Gibblets 'n Gravy

Dave Ramsey

2011-03-06T00:13:00.000-07:00

Marie is really getting into the Dave Ramsey thing. I fear that some day, when in my 80's, I'll hear, "Bart, we're selling your walker. Gazelle, Bart! Gazelle!"

A Simple, but Useful Parental Tool

2011-02-26T13:18:00.001-07:00

I just thought I'd share this little nugget.

Not long ago I began using a technique that could have saved me so much time and frustration in the past. As more of my children enter the teenage years, it has proven both efficient and effective. It is simply this:

Anytime one of the kids asks me for something––"Can I have this/that? Can I go here/there? Can we do this/that?––and I don't have an immediate answer and don't really want to deal with it at the moment, I just respond, "No, unless I change my mind." Bam! Discussion over. I'm free to resuscitate the topic later at MY discretion. If I forget, I've already given my answer with no promise to remember. I've agreed to nothing and they can't later say, "But you said. . ." I hate that!

Hope you find it useful.

Andrea's Artistic Side

2011-02-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of projects that Andrea has recently done. I helped her with the PSA on Haiti, a project Andrea doesn't care for because she feels it smacks of propaganda. (She did get an A on it - in her English class. English? Neither of us understand the connection other than English is the language used in the PSA.)

The second is something she did for fun in her photography class, because, as she pointed out, she's ahead in the class and had the time.

Ready to Go Home

2011-02-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

Sir Isaac Arthur Washington Gibb

2011-02-03T14:24:00.002-07:00

Born 2 February, 2011, 4:32 AM
8 lbs 7 oz
19-1/2"

It's a Boy!

2011-02-01T02:43:00.000-07:00

. . . and a boy . . . and another boy . . . and a boy . . . and a girl . . . and, well, in all, 7 boys and 2 girls. Oh, sorry, I'm talking about Rosie's puppies. (The break down is two gold: one male, one female. And seven black ones: five black as night, and two distinguishable only by a white tuft just below the chin–one of which is the second female.) It took Marie (soon to be) 9 pregnancies, all 9 months apiece to accumulate our nine, but it took Rosie, our dog, all of one 60-day pregnancy to produce her nine. Where's the justice in that?

We've had them now for seven weeks and will begin selling them Wednesday (the day after what should be the arrival of our #9). $25 a piece, if you're interested. It has been an adventure, to say the least. You think one dog stinks. Try 10 all in the same box. Whoa! Most of the family is used to it, but after being away all day, I get the pleasure of being stunned at the stench every day! They are adorable (as the following pictures attest), but I will not miss them.

We started with a little wading pool for a whelping box (an idea Marie stumbled on searching the internet ether). Understand that it's winter here, which means nights between 0 ˚ and 20˚, consequently no matter how much I point to everyone that God gave dogs fur so they could live comfortably in the cold a certain motherly individual won't allow them to live outside on the back porch.

When they were younger, as you could see them in the video getting ready to sleep, they would all sleep in a big heap of legs, ears, wet noses, and fur.

At first Rosie would barely leave the puppies alone at all. After a while she became less inclined to spend all her time with the pups, although was still attentive. About that time they grew a tad big for the pool, escaping off and on. At night Rosie would sometimes hop in the pool just to clean up after the pups (you don't want to know what that means). And, of course, when she would get in the pool the pups would go nuts trying to nurse, but Rosie would quickly finish cleaning up and then take off. Well, the insatiable pups would be in frenzy to follow after and sometimes get out of the pool. Soon I was waking up to a pool full of whining pups, and a whining mom trying to figure out how to get the few escapees off the lam and back in the pool. That got old real fast.

About the third day/night of this Marie showed up with a second pool, the bottom of which I promptly cut out, turned upside down and clamped the two rims together making the sides a bit taller. A short time passed, the pups got bigger, and then it was back to mom agitating pups, pups escaping, and all out canine chaos. Did I mention that puppies grow at an exponential rate?

So then I scrapped together a much larger, approximately 8'x4', box in our family room and lined it with a tarp.

Not long after being moved to the Ritz, Rosie stopped nursing all together. (I guess she'd had enough of those sharp little puppy teeth. Poor thing's underside was just raw from puppy abuse.) Of course the regularly tantalizing trips to clean up have continued, but at least the puppies can no longer escape–for now. These days they spend most of their days outside on the back patio that I crudely enclosed for the interim until some blessed souls take them off our hands. Interested?

I complain, but it has been fun, for the most part, and a great experience for the kids. They've loved it. They play with them every day, and have named them; although the five solid black ones are indistinguishable. In spite of the annoyances it has been a worthwhile event, one that in the end was worth it.

We put an add online today and within 15 minutes had a taker for one, maybe two. They'll be missed, but not long. Here's the flier I put together using a template in Apple's Pages. Took maybe 10 min.

Just for fun, here's a few pictures of when Rosie was a puppy just over a year ago. Rosie first came to us as gift for Jarom who had been wanting a puppy for a long time. Unfortunately, he's allergic to dogs which caused us to get rid of Bear, who we'd had since Arizona. Then we learned about labradoodles (a labrador / poodle mix that tends towards hypo-allergenic. So far it seems to have worked. She barely sheds at all, and Jarom seems okay around her.

Rosie loved to play with the doorstop by our front door. She could go on for some time, because the doorstop was willing to play until the dog wore itself out.

Family Home Evening

2011-01-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

A note on how I blog: definitely not chronologically. I tend to blog in spurts –– none for a time, then suddenly a bunch, then another hiatus. So each spurt begins with the most recent event I deem blog worthy and then I move backwards. That means that events that took place 2 years ago will appear 10 years from now. Just think of all that you have to look forward to.

That said, here is a bit Emma put together for FHE activity: chin puppets.

Jarom

Kerina

Joseph

Porter

Emma

Halloween 2010

2010-12-13T01:48:00.000-07:00

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

2010-12-13T00:45:00.000-07:00

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

2010-12-12T23:41:00.003-07:00

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

2010-12-12T23:17:00.001-07:00

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

2010-12-12T23:01:00.004-07:00

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

2010-12-12T22:05:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-01T20:17:00.000-06:00

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

2010-06-06T09:58:00.000-06:00

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

2010-05-01T19:36:00.000-06:00

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

2010-05-01T19:21:00.000-06:00

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.

grace, 18 months

2009-11-17T00:52:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd better get a picture of Grace up here. It's been a while.

...and a little child shall lead them

2009-09-25T00:29:00.005-06:00

A few days ago Kerina came to me with something she wanted me to read. It was a letter she had written to President Obama. I figured it was some kind of school assignment, but she informed me that it was just something she wanted to do on her own.

So here's a scan of her letter:

I'm not sure where she got the clipping, but she added it herself. You should be able to click on it to see a larger image.

PS. We did it mail it, but I suspect there will be no response. Undoubtedly Kerina will make Napolitano's domestic terrorist list.

gibb bowling highlights

2009-09-07T15:07:00.001-06:00

Here's a little cinematic depiction of bowling night May 2008. At Andrea's request I included a song out of my iTunes library that YouTube flagged (probably because I used the whole thing). Anyway, YouTube just attached an advertisement to the movie, but apparently it only shows up on my YouTube site, not on the blog. They apparently didn't care about the Quincy Jones/Jobim tune, or the London Phil/Handel piece. Go figure.

Enjoy!

Emma's School Program

2009-09-05T11:15:00.001-06:00

Here is video of Emma's school program Spring 2008. Sorry if it's boring, but I think it's cute. Sitting next to Emma is one of her best friends, Emilia Randolph, who lives a couple doors down. Oddly enough, the boy sitting next to Emma ended up on Porter's baseball team that I coached this year. I just happened to recognize him as I was prepping this clip.

Joseph's & Kerina's Foray into Theatre

2009-09-04T00:45:00.003-06:00

Here is cleaned up footage of a puppet show put on by Joseph, Kerina, and a school chum a couple of years back. The point of the story line remains somewhat in question.

Enjoy!

I have no idea where the chupacabra fits in.

andrea the trampoline queen

2009-08-30T23:31:00.002-06:00

Enjoy!

a short home movie

2009-08-30T17:09:00.005-06:00

Here is a short movie put together in just a few minutes with iMovie. The footage is from March 2008, just after we bought a new video camera (back when I had an actual job). You'll see a very pregnant Marie, some video of the kids just after a piano competition and some world class tennis.

Enjoy!

Adcock Family Reunion

2009-08-28T21:37:00.005-06:00

Okay, I'm going to attempt to slowly catch y'all up on the goings-on in the Utah-Gibb home.

Here are some photos from our trip to Yellowstone for the 2008 Adcock Family Reunion. It took place the week after the 2008 Gibb Family Reunion. Note: Do not attempt two family reunions during consecutive weeks. It will be, shall we say, taxing. And we all know how bad taxes are.

Here's a typical sight in the park.

Old Faithful being very unfaithful. Eventually she did blow. Luckily I had the video camera recording nothing, and as soon as Old Faithful started up I hit the button to start recording, which, since it was already recording, only stopped. Consequently, I have great footage of the ground, and upside down people behind me, but absolutely nothing of Old Faithful. Brilliant.

The kids playing in Madison River.

Jarom in his skivies (sp?).

The typical buffalo on the side of the road. We stopped and offered it a ride, but it declined.

Here's some video clips from the day.

Watch what you say

2009-07-04T12:21:00.002-06:00

Here's a line you don't hear every day:

"You need to turn around, sit quiet, and think about Jesus; and stop worrying about Grace!"

(Said by me to one of the kids in the middle of the sacrament.)

Odd (Sad) Happenings

2009-03-22T13:04:00.001-06:00

We had an unusual event in our ward today. A young man, recently returned from his mission in the Austria, Germany mission, was giving a talk. About half way through his talk there was somewhat of a ruckus behind and to the left of where were sitting on the second row. I did not see what happened but suddenly several people hopped up out of their pews and headed for the door. At about the same time, the second counselor in the bishopric jumped up and made haste for the door. My family and I were nothing but rotating heads trying to ascertain what was happening. The speaker of course came to a halt, also trying to figure out what was going on. Poor kid, he was struggling, as it was, with English, his new foreign language. The hullabaloo only heightened his discomfort.

The Bishop then got up, whispered an encouraging word or two to the young man, and then made his way out of the chapel. At that the returned missionary picked up his talk where he had left off.

The rest of the meeting proceeded without incident. Then just before the closing hymn, the Bishop, who had previously returned to his seat, stood at the pulpit and informed the congregation that the previous commotion had been caused when certain members of the congregation had learned that there was a fire at the home of the return missionary's mother's home.

Gasp!

We had our closing hymn and prayer and then were dismissed: the children and young women to class and the priesthood to go home, change clothes, and return prepared to work.

Of course when we arrived at the home the fire dept would not let anyone near it. It was a pretty bad fire, and the back of the house was structurally unsafe. After some time they let a few men in to the front rooms of the house to salvage what they could, which was not much.

I can't even imagine; to get home off your mission and within just a couple days have your house burn up. Luckily the missionary had very little in the way of personal possessions, and what little he did have from his mission was saved.

His mother was not so lucky: all her pets (cats and fish) died, she has no clothes, and pretty much everything was a total loss. They were able to get a few things, including a file cabinet with important papers. The other lucky thing (if I can use that word) is that due to the homecoming all her grown children were present. Hence, she has an immediate support group.

Currently the ward is making clothing and housing arrangements. I'm sure they would appreciate any prayers or thoughts. Their names are Arlinda and Andy Robinson.

In Case You Hadn't Heard

2009-02-06T10:03:00.003-07:00

If you missed the lead story in the NY Times today, I have another blog titled The Ordinary Opiner. It's not a family blog so much as a soap box blog. If you're interested...

You Can't Take the Wii Too Seriously

2009-01-28T02:01:00.001-07:00

No breathing treatment is going to keep this boy from his first love.

Great job, Joseph & Porter

2009-01-28T01:22:00.005-07:00

We are all very proud of Porter and Joseph today. Porter started Cub Scouts in December and has already received his Bobcat. He loves scouts! One of the leaders told us today that she has never seen a cub scout as excited as Porter. I said it was the Rytalin wearing off.

Joseph received his Arrow of Light, which is great because I think all his father got was the Barrel of Blight. So this is a big step up for this Gibb family. Joseph is actually an 11 yr. old scout now, but they haven't had Pack Meeting since he finished things up, hence the boy scout uniform he got for Christmas.

Mom receives the traditional pin.

Joseph's cub leaders put all his awards (minus belt loops) on this nice plaque.

Some Random Pictures

2009-01-28T00:08:00.003-07:00

Gracie

Gracie again.

Emma and Jarom engaging in a daily ritual: fighting.

Look out fashionistas. Here comes Andrea!

Gracie doing one of her many finger exercises for the left hand and loving it. She's a big Czerny fan.

To Grandmother's House We Go!

2009-01-26T11:13:00.001-07:00

I'm trying something new with the blog. This is a test of sorts.

Vermillion Cliffs in Arizona, just of Highway 89A, north of the Grand Canyon.

Just off the highway is this spot I'm sure everyone has seen. It's the old Cliff Dwellers Lodge. We've stopped before but this time we took photos.

There are a few different stone huts or places for storage around.

Marie & Grace in Front of Blanche Russell's Cliff Dwellers Lodge.

If you don't know about this place its kind of interesting. Apparently, during the depression, the husband of Blanche Russell, herself one of the famous Ziegfeld girls, came down with Tuberculosis. As was common in the day, the two headed west from New York for a more suitable climate. While headed down the highway in Arizona, the car broke down and stranded the couple at the foot of the Vermillion Cliffs.

Blanche decided she liked the scenery and thought they'd make a go of it. They set up a crude lean-to of tarpaper and boards and settled down. Blanche would feed passers-by in exchange for labor and built this "lodge". It became somewhat of a restaurant frequented by travelers including Mormons headed north to be sealed in the St. George Temple (part of the famous Honeymoon Trail). They sold water and pigeons and eventually added a gas pump.

After a decade Blanche sold the lodge and left for California. It was transformed into a bar during WWII and was eventually abandoned in the 50's when it was replaced with a new Cliff Dwellings Lodge not far away. (Most of this info came from az.central.com.)

Can you imagine living out there. If you're ever traveling Hwy 89A you'll notice just how desolate the area is.

Andrea & Emma tucked away in stone hovel.

The Lodge

Joseph and Andrea at play.

Porter looking through the roof of the lodge.

From inside the lodge.

Behind the lodge

If You're Interested

2009-01-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

I recently tried my hand at writing an op-ed piece and submitted it to several newspapers. Only the local paper picked it up. The Springville Herald put it on pg. 2, and it's parent company The Daily Herald put it on their website. Here's the link:

"Maybe I Can Live with Obama"

I'd love any feedback.

The New Bathroom

2009-01-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the bathroom remodel - beginning to end.

This is the only photo I can find where you can see the bathroom before construction. Oddly enough we don't take very many photos of our bathrooms. We'll have to work on that. (You'll notice Jarom's handy work.)

This is the old window. If you showered water would get on the outside of the window and drip down the side of the house. It was awesome. So if you couldn't tell someone was showering by the fuzzy, nude silhouette, than you could just look for the watermark spreading beneath the window.

Notice all the insulation in the wall? There it is between the studs. I think it's R-.00001.

Here's the view from the outside. You will just have to imagine the fuzzy, nude silhouette and the dripping water. So sad for you.

This is what the toilet drain used to look like. If you've never worked with cast iron drain pipe than you haven't lived. There is only two ways to cut it: 400 hacksaw blades and 2,000 man hours or a special chain that cinches around the pipe. In the chain are these cutting discs that cut into the pipe as you cinch down the chain. Eventually the pipes just breaks. The chain takes about 15 to 30 min. Here I had just finished installing the moldings and trim.

And here is the finished product.

This linen closet used to be a stack of drawers and cupboards circa 1966.

If you need any work done, I need work. So, give me a call and send me some traveling expenses and I'm there. Oh, and I'll need room and board.

Is it Us or the Public Schools?

2009-01-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

You should all get a kick out of this. Recently our daughter Andrea received one of those crackpot emails where someone is unveiling some grand conspiracy. Well, this one related to the new Presidential dollar coins. The email claims that "In God We Trust" has been removed from the coin, and that we all need to band together with torches and pitch forks and head for D.C. and demand the gov fix this injustice immediately (or maybe you're supposed to 'sign' an email petition). Now, I would agree (except for the torches which emit CO2, which would hasten the melting of the ice caps, and the raising of the seas and all manner of hell breaking loose) if only the claim were true. Unfortunately for the claimant "In God We Trust" IS on the coin, just on the edge. I pointed this out to Andrea, which she passed on to her friend(s) in a reply. Keep in mind, I only dealt with the religious issue. There is, however, something else on the edge of the coin. Here is Andrea's reply (pardon the teenage email grammer):

"that coin in God we trust email is a lie it does say in God we trust right here i'm not kidding it does look and see for your self it also even says it in spanish"

Oh boy......

The 'W' Must Stand for Woodenhead or Witless

2008-12-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

Thought you might get a kick out of this. For all his positives in his handling of the war on terror, this may overshadow it all. It's possible his legacy will be 'Economic Moron'. It's Herbert Hoover followed by FDR all over again. Wow, are these people smart!

Why Men Should Not Blog

2008-12-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Marie just pointed out to me that in my "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" post I left out all the other October birthdays. Well, I say, Marie left out all the other birthdays. Blogging should not be left for a man to do. I thought I was doing pretty well remembering that I had a mother, brother, and sister. Remembering that they had birthdays in October was just a testament to my blinding awesomeness. Today my wife says, "Hey, braniac, there are others with October birthdays. Duh!" (I'm paraphrasing.) Well, to her I say, "Try reading my blog more than once every three months!" So for those of you who were left out I offer this humble apology: "Thanks for the timely heads-up, Marie. Way to go."

To make amends I re-offer this new and improved birthday wish:

As for you November and December birthdays, I refer you to the video disclaimer.

Pictures of Grace

2008-12-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

The wife requested that I post pictures of Gracie. So here they are. Enjoy.

By the way, as cute as she is in these photos, they pale in comparison to the real thing.

Filet de Oreille

2008-12-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while because nothing of any interest has happened here in sometime, unless you count the UFO landing last week in the field behind our house when six of our children were abducted and replaced two days later with robotic clones. But who hasn't had that happen. So I finally have something mildly interesting to share, plus it includes a photo. Admittedly, it's not as good as the foot in the brain photo, but it is ours.

Yesterday Jarom was doing one of his usual stunts where he puts his left hand on the sofa, his right hand on the coffee table/cedar chest and swings himself forward. Well, yesterday his right hand slipped. Hence Filet de Oreille ('ear' for you non-Frenchies).

So, I took him to the ER where, amazingly, we did not have to wait. Apparently filleted body parts are like a backstage pass, because you get right in. Back in Arizona when I had pneumonia and a 105º temp, they just sent me to the lobby: "Sorry, sir. Potential brain damage is of little concern. We've got a kid here who filleted his finger. Have you ever seen one of those. It's awesome." Apparently all the medical personnel on the other side of the double doors, that get slammed open by the gurney in the TV shows, take a vote on which case they'll see next:

"Okay, people. We've got a woman with cramps, an old man with a broken ankle, an old woman with kidney stones, a kid with a jungle-gym induced bump on the head who's blood pressure is 60 over 20, a guy with a 112º temperature and blood oozing out his ears, or a guy with a filleted right index finger."

"Can you see bone and stuff on the finger one?"

"Yes. It's totally gross....Okay, so how many want the crampy woman?...Okay, none. How many for the busted ankle...apparently he twisted it in the sand?...Okay, none.... Awe, who am I kidding. Who wants to see the gross looking finger?....Okay, that's 10, 11, 12....23. Okay, the finger it is!"

Anyway, the doctor was impressed that Jarom was the seventh child of eight so he worked seven stitches into the deal. What a guy! He probably charges by the stitch.

"Uh, doctor? Why does he have 138 stitches? It's only a busted lip."

"You can never be too careful with these things. That's why I'm the doctor and you're just a nurse."

Anyway, I was just glad to find out that Jarom is NOT one of the androids.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE OCTOBER FOLKS

2008-10-15T21:52:00.000-06:00

Due to lateness, laziness and any number of other 'esses' we give you the following (outtakes and all) as a tribute to three down-right slap-up, corking chaps: Grammy Gibb, Dave, & Casey. Here's to you!

How McCain Let the Election Slip Through His Fingers...Maybe

2008-09-29T09:14:00.001-06:00

Okay, this is part 2 to my political rant. You'll pardon me for the non family stuff for a bit.

So Thursday was the first presidential debate; placed smack dab in the middle of the financial meltdown on Wall Street. The president had submits a bill, Henry Paulsen's bill, to congress. The Dems in congress pick up the bill and run with it adding some earmarks along the way. Meanwhile the American electorate is chiming in on the bail out at a clip of 2:1 or 3:1 against. Congressional offices are reporting calls coming at a 200:1 and 300:1 against. Another report I heard was 95% of Americans were against the proposed bail out plan. Those numbers are pretty dramatic. I suspect that the 2 or 3:1 ratios are more accurate. Anyway, it's a slam dunk against the plan.

The day before the debate, Wednesday, McCain suspends his campaign and heads for Washington. Before he arrives the Dems fake a throw to first base by announcing they and the Repubs have agreed on a plan, which comes as news to the Repubs. McCain, Obama and congressional leaders meet with Pres. Bush in the White House and apparently the meeting "blows up", which Democratic leaders immediately blame on McCain, despite the fact that there had never been a deal to "blow up" in the first place. Of course the media, that group of conscientious journalists is only too happy to go along with the ruse. Thursday comes and McCain agrees to attend the debate after all. By this time the Dems are pointing the finger at the Repubs for holding up passage on the bill, because the Dems want a bipartisan bill, aka. Repubs agreeing with Dems. Again the press seems content to report it as such. Leave it to the Repubs to mess everything up.

Now, curiously, no one in the press seems particularly interested in a couple of obvious questions. First: Although I am no constitutional scholar, I'm pretty sure that passage of a bill in both houses of congress requires only a simple majority, ie. 51%. Someone might want to look into that, maybe its 53% or 61% or 55.3%. Maybe its 59% and two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert. But I'm pretty sure it's 51%. Also, the last time I checked, the Dems currently hold majorities in both the Senate and the House of Reps. That being the case, my question is, and should be for any respectable journalist: Why haven't the Dems passed the bill despite the Repubs? Nothing could be simpler. Hold a vote, and if all the Dems vote "Yea" than it passes. The bill is sent back to the President where it originated and he signs it. Done!

Question number two: Did Barack Obama support the Dems version of the bail out? Yes or no?

A little political thought brings us to the obvious answers that no Dem wants to explain or Obama for that matter. The fact is the Dems did not want there fingerprints exclusively on this bill, no way, no how. Why? They knew the bill could potentially blow up in America's collective face, and they do not want to hand the Repubs an easy argument. "Excuse me Mr. Voter, we hate to interrupt that fantastic meal of Alpo and gutter water, but we'd like to point out that the bail out bill which has brought you to this point was passed by the Dems without a single Republican vote. Please remember that in November." Obama did not want to be within a mile of that thing. He's got nowhere to go. For him it's a lose-lose proposition. I'm sure he was ecstatic when Bush called him and requested that he meet at the White House. "Uh...ummm...um...u...yes, Mr. President...ummmm....uh....can I...umm...bring my...uh...ummm biohazard suit?" See Obama can't be for it because America hates it. And he can't be against because, as the public face of his party, if he comes out against it, the bill is dead, dead, dead. There is no way the Dems push their bill if B. H. Obama comes out against it. Consequently B. H. just hems and haws about needing to see the final version of the bill before taking a stance. He maybe an empty suit, but he does at least have some people behind him with a sense of the politico.

McCain is in a very different situation: Oppose the President's bill and your a maverick opposing Bush and standing with the American people, who are almost entirely opposed to the boondoggle.

So they show up at the debate and Mr. Lehrer walks up on stage, sets up a baseball tee, puts a ball on it, and hands McCain a Louisville Slugger and asks, Senator do you support the bail out plan?" This is the moment. I'm watching, I'm waiting. With his response he can possibly secure the election and hand his party a big victory, all the while handing Obama and his Demo club a painful defeat. Hit it McCain. Come on John, big swing. So what does he do? He puts down the Louisville Slugger, grabs the bat his son picked up on bat day at the D-backs game (you know, the skinny, little short ones) and tops the ball off the tee, knocking it into the ground about five feet in front of him. His response? "Um sure, I hope to..."

What?! What was he thinking?

Somewhere in an alternative universe a McCain said: "My friends, I, like the rest of America, couldn't be more opposed to the plan as it currently stands. It's terrible. It would place a ridiculously high and unnecessary burden on the American people. The citizenry of this great nation has spoken loud and clear. They do not want this bill and they are right. I stand with them; the hard working men and women of this country who scrimped and scraped whatever they could, not to play funny money games on Wall Street, but to put themselves and their families in a respectable, modest home. I will not support a bill that punishes the people who did things right, and rewards the fat cats on Wall Street who got too greedy, or protects Washington from the scrutiny that it deserves for their part in this crisis.

"My friends, I suspended my campaign so that I could come to Washington and help produce a bill that protects the taxpayers, holds Wall Street accountable and shines the light of truth on all involved in this fleecing of the American public, from Washington to Wall Street. I sat in that meeting with Senator Obama in the White House and, my friends, the bill being put forth by the President and my associates across the aisle is a terrible bill. You may have seen the Democratic leadership try to suggest that they already had a bill in hand before I arrived yesterday. This is true, however it was not a bipartisan bill. The large majority of Republicans were dead set against the President's and the Democrats', make-the-taxpayers-pay, version of a bail out. I said, No! Senator Obama and the Democrats have a majority in the Senate and in the House and if they want this bill; a bill that punishes blue-collar America, than they will have to pass it without my vote, without the American people's support, and without the support of most of the Republican party. I say again, if President Bush, Senator Obama and the Democrats in congress like this bill and are comfortable with it, then let them pass it by themselves. They don't need me or my party's support in order to pass it. They have a majority. Now, I want to reach across the aisle and work with my friends in the Democratic party to bring about a responsible bill. Something has to be done or our economy could suffer even more. Consequently, it is my intention at the close of this debate to return to Washington to continue pushing for a bipartisan bill that puts the American people first. But as far as the one currently supported by Senator Obama, the President and my associates across the aisle, it stinks and the American people know it stinks; so if Senator Obama, President Bush, Senator Reid and Representative Pelosi want that bill passed, they will have do it over the objections of me and the American people.

My friends, the question I'd like to ask, that has never been answered is this: Senator Obama, where do you stand on this bill? I presume you are for it as you have never opposed it. Are you for it or against it? Will you stand with me and the American people in opposing this earmark-ridden, pork-barrel-filled, taxpayer-punishing excuse for a bail out plan? The American people want to know. They need your support. Now is the time for leadership. Now is the time for bipartisanship. Now is the time to stand toe to toe with your own party, if necessary, in defense of the American people. And do not say that you need to see the particulars. You've seen them. You were in the same meeting with me. The President was there, the congressional leaders of your party were there, and they agree on the bill. Do you, Senator Obama, stand with your party or the American people? We both sat in that meeting and I came away with more than enough information to know that it was a bad bill. Do not tell us that you are not sure? We were there together. Your lack of opposition lends tacit support. What say you, Senator Obama? Are you for or against the existing bail out?

So there you have it. Obama can't support the bill because the people hate it, yet if he defies his party, he kills the existing version and hands control of the situation to the Repubs. It would have been high drama with McCain calling the shots, and he and his party the beneficiaries. I really think that moment could have changed the face of the campaign. Whether or not there was actually a definite Democrat version of the bill beyond basic principles is irrelevant. It was the Democrats who suggested that they had a deal reached and ready to go, and that McCain was not needed in the negotiations. At worst McCain is merely promoting the Democratic version of events, yet with a winning twist.

Now, I'm no big McCain fan. However, for the good of the nation I want him to win. Why? Because at the very least I know that McCain, no matter how much we disagree, will have the best interests of the nation at heart. I don't think anyone doubts that he would put his country first. B. H. Obama, on the other hand, is an unknown quantity. So much of his past has been ignored or glossed over that it's apparent that for him no news is good news. Would he put America first? I'm not sure. That alone should cause us all some concern.

Anyhow, that's it. There's my three dollars and twenty-two cents worth. Take it for what it's worth, but if I had been McCain's adviser, that's the counsel I would have given. But alas, it was not be. Whether or not it would have worked will never be known. But it would have been a better response than, "Sure, I hope to support it." Ugh!

A Little Political Rant...Okay, a Big Rant

2008-09-29T01:58:00.001-06:00

Like many of you, well, some of you, okay only you very dull people with no jobs and nothing to do but nurse your broken careers and broken ankles, I have been following the recent political/financial goings-on in Washington. And having seen enough to test the fortitude of any man's stomach, I feel the need to stand on my "holier than thou" soap box and let loose. Let me begin by stating that, no surprise to those who know me, I am a conservative; pretty hard-core, right wing conservative. A republican, yes, but only tenuously. Frankly, I'd like to throw out the whole lot of them and start fresh, perhaps with a new conservative party, perhaps the Constitution Party; I don't know...But suffice it to say, I am pretty disgusted with what happened when, for the first time in forever, we had a Republican president with a Republican congress. Apparently Washington D.C. turns everyone into a Democrat. When it came to fiscal issues, apparently the President and the Repubs in congress tried to distance themselves from Clinton by moving to the right of Barney Frank, but to the left of Bill Clinton. Perhaps when they take the oath of office they are injected with some kind of microchip that makes them talk like Ronald Reagan but vote like Tip O'Neal. They must have started doing this when Newt Gingrich was railroaded out of town. Anyway, my point is: I'm a conservative and I only affiliate with the Republican party in hopes that by voting in the primaries I might be able to move the party to the right. If I thought a more constitutional party could get some serious clout more easily than changing the current Repub party, I'd jump in head first. Well, in case I haven't bored you enough, let me continue. If any of your friends (or you, for that matter) suffer with insomnia, please lead them to my blog. It will not only provide them cheap alternative to Ambien, but it will also inflate my ego by falsely legitimizing this blog. And so to continue: Suffice it to say that if you think that this financial snafu is the result of George "The Hurricane Maker", "The Levy Breaker", "The Incoherent", "The War Monger", "The Devil Himself" Bush, the rascally Republicans, greedy CEO's and a greedy Wall Street then you must like your Kool-Aid nice and sweet. (Let me point any possible Bush haters to this New York Times article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63. Congressional Democrats booted this bill, one of several attempts by the President to take on Fannie and Freddie mismanagement.) Take 10 minutes and read the history of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and you will quickly see some potential problems that unfortunately, yet inevitably, moved from potential to reality. Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, government sponsored institutions that are not required to file with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commision - the Wall Street Police), hold about half...HALF... of the $12 trillion worth of mortgages in the US, that is about $6,000,000,000,000. If you think the current crisis is going to only cost $700 billion, read this and weep: "The July 30, 2008 law enabling expanded regulatory authority over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased the national debt ceiling by US$800 billion, to a total of US$ 10.7 Trillion in anticipation of the potential need for the Treasury to have the flexibility to support the federal home loan banks." Ouch! If everything goes really bad, we, you are potentially on the hook for $10.7 TRILLION. Now, admittedly, most of the mortgages are and will remain in good standing. But I'm sure that you can see that $700 billion is a drop in the bucket. Essentially Fannie and Freddie exist to buy up bad loans, ie. loans that no respectable bank would want to touch because the loan recipient wouldn't qualify in the free market; too much risk. They (Fannie & Freddie) repackage the questionable loans into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and sell them on Wall Street. Respectable banks at that point are willing to buy the MBS because they have the "implicit" guarantee of the federal govt, aka you. Well, when the unqualified loanees began defaulting on their loans, they began to flood the market with inventory bringing the loaners (and possibly an entire economy) to a halt. We'll just have to wait and see.

You'll pardon a little history...I hope: Fannie Mae was created in 1938 as part of the New Deal. FDR pushed it with the intent to enable unqualified people to qualify for loans, in hopes that it would create a need to build more homes, thus more jobs, etc. Undoubtedly, like almost all of the New Deal, it did NOT work. In 1965 LBJ "privatized" Fannie mae to take it off the books as his Great Society was a bit on the costly side and it looked better to have Fannie Mae not showing up on an accounting ledger. Don't worry, I'm sure LBJ was not flimflamming anyone. In 1970, as a result of a 1968 law (still LBJ), Freddie Mac was created to put competition in the market for Fannie Mae. If you believe in the free market you should laugh here. Again don't worry, no shenanigans I'm sure.

In 1995 (can you say Clinton), Freddie Mac began receiving affordable housing credit for buying subprime securities. This is where our trouble directly begins. Essentially the affordable housing requirements set by HUD (the Dept. of wHoring and Urban De-flowering, I mean Housing and Urban Development) force lending institutions to make a certain amount of bad loans for the good of the community. Again, laughter appropriate here. You see, if Bank "X" must give 10% of it's loans to certain economic groups, or certain ethnic groups, regardless of income qualifications, than under-qualified loanees would be able to buy a house, and homeownership is a good thing. Right?! Well, despite the senselessness of such loans, in order to avoid any perception in congress of wrongdoing, the banks made bad loans. (Keep in mind that Fannie and Freddie make up about half of US mortgages, most of which are questionable from the word go which means they took on an disproportionate amount of risky loans.) Well the percentage of loans that are made to these groups kept going up, due to tax incentives and the ever watchful HUD and CBC (Congressional Black Caucus). Essentially it became a protection racket. The Barney Frank's and the Charlie Rangel's in congress would increase the requirements and the lending institutions would comply. What else were they going to do. If you questioned the system you were labeled a racist or uncaring where the needy are concerned. To prove my point, recently on one of these political talking heads shows a Republican pointed this HUD, CBC stuff and an Obama supporter responded with, "So your blaming this current financial mess on poor people?" Well that was the first and last time I heard the truth about this topic. Political correctness rears its head and silences truth. Gosh we're sensitive and tolerant.

Meanwhile, I wonder why Chris Dodd, D-CT was getting "VIP" loans from Country Wide Home Loans. Oh yeah, he's the Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. Oh, and he's received more $$ from Fannie and Freddie in contributions than any other guy in Washington (Barack Obama 2nd, John Kerry 3rd). Hmm. Don't worry. I'm sure Dodd is just looking out for you! That Chris Dodd, always working hard for you! What a guy! Don't get too excited, you Republicans, your the next three on the list headed by my state's very own Robert Bennett. In fact if you'll notice, ALL the people working on this "bail out" are in the top 26 money-takers: Chris Dodd-D, Barney Frank-D, Nancy Pelosi-D, Harry Reid-D, John Boehner-R, Robert Bennett-R, Roy Blunt-R, Chris Bond-R. Frankly, when it's all added up the Dems got about 30% more than the Repubs. So the Repubs were engaging in "financial relations" just a little less than the Dems, who were basically running a financial cat house. Very comforting.

So back to 1995: from this point on, sub-prime loans became accepted as meeting "Affordable Housing" requirements. Oooh! Ooh! Can I have one?! Please?! Over time this became a great way to not only get a first house (as opposed to the age old way of getting money from Mom & Dad), but also a great way to speculate in a housing market that was returning well over what people were forking out in sub-prime and interest-only loans. (Thanks, in part, to a complicit Federal Reserve who was constantly manipulating interest rates so as to induce more borrowing). This created incentives to buy homes, which in turn created an incentive to build more homes, which created an incentive to loan more $ for houses, which created reasons to build more houses, which created...Hey, wait a second. Something's going on here. Does anyone see a potential problem here?

So here we are, staring like deer in the headlights of an...aircraft carrier (97,000 tons of floating steel. And as anyone who has ever dropped steel in water knows, it definitely does not float. No matter how small a piece of steel, it will not float. So, then, how does 97,000 tons of steel float???????? Magic.)

But I digress...

So what is the point of all this? Simply that you really need to get a life! You just waisted who knows how much time reading this pitifully boring drivel from and unemployed musician. My plan? to default on any and all loans and apply for a bail out. Unfortunately this probably won't work because I didn't take on enough bad loans. If I had only been smart enough to take out mortgages in the billions of dollars then I'd be sitting pretty. All you tax paying saps would be on the hook for my bad debts.

Now to the real point:

Basically, we are probably in for some difficult times. Only this time when we tie all our goods to the tops of our cars and head West looking for work we'll watch DVD's on our overhead DVD players. That will at least take the sting out of near starvation. At the very least it will keep the children occupied while Mommy and Daddy try and find a barn to sleep in for the night.

If I sound a little peeved and cynical you're right. The idea that the very fools and scalawags who created this mess are actually posturing themselves as capable of fixing this is beyond laughable. Every time I see Barney Frank or Chris Dodd speak about this, or criticize Bush or anyone else, while the so called journalists just soak it up, and spew it right back out with no attempt to point out the hypocrisy of these very people, well..........

Let me leave you with this from the aforementioned 2003 New York Times article regarding Bush's proposal to move regulatory oversight for Fannie and Freddie from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (created in 1992 as part of HUD) to a new agency under the Treasury Dept., which is headed by Presidential appointment:

"These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis," said Rep. Barney Frank D-MA, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services committee. "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

Rep. Melvin L. Watt, D-NC, agreed.

"I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing." Mr. Watt said.

Well whoopee-do to you Mr. Frank and Mr. Watt! You guys really helped the little guy this time. No doubt the coming meltdown will only hurt the rich and not at all weaken "the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing." Barney and Melvin hard at work for the little guy! Always working hard, those guys! I think the article has a typo, I think Barney Frank is not the ranking Democrat, but the rank Democrat on the Financial Services Committee.

It's a good thing my TV weighs 97,000 tons, otherwise the next time I saw one of these carnival ride workers passing blame and telling us how they're going to clean up their stinky mess I'd be tempted to rip it off the wall and throw it in my bathtub where it would no doubt float because it's got steel AND plastic in it, and I know for a fact that plastic floats!

A Few Items of Interest to Only a Few

2008-09-23T22:18:00.000-06:00

Joseph got his Webelos badge today. We are all very proud of him. Of course there are no photos of the event because his parents are "disabled" as Charlie Rangel would say. So be kind to us. Had a couple of fun conversations with the kids today. I've been slowly copying all our music CD's to iTunes over the past forever, and on my desk was Marie's copy of the Sound of Music soundtrack. (Mind you, my kids have seen this movie MANY times). On the CD cover is, of course, the apparently not so famous Julie Andrews; because Andrea walks into my office and notices the CD and says, somewhat mystified, "Julie Andrews is in the Sound of Music?!" "Uhh...yes, Andrea," I respond. "Where have you been?" "I thought she was just in the Princess Diaries." Hmmm... I then point out to her that Julie Andrews is much better known for The Sound of Music than The Princess Diaries, which in the world of movies is not even worthy of a blip. To which she responds with, "But The Princess Diaries is a way better movie." "Why would you say that," I ask. "Because it has Anne Hathaway in it, and she's a great actor [sic]...Julie Andrews is lucky she got to meet Anne Hathaway!" [The sound of crickets is appropriate here.] No doubt Ronald Reagan was also lucky to walk in front of Grammy Gibb's car. He probably never forgot that moment. If I haven't yet established the high level of cultural literacy in this house, then let me finish with this... So later in the evening Andrea, again, asks Marie if she knows that book by Edward Allen Poe, "The Count of Monte Crisco." Whoops, and whoops again. Marie politely corrects her, ie. laughs at her, as Hannah pipes up with this: "Is that one of the stories in that scary book we've got by Alfred Hitch-hock?" OUCH! Maybe the Obamatrons are right. We are a bunch of tacky, hayseeds here in fly-over country. Well, too bad for them. We vote and we're propagating like rabbits. Hah!

Grace Caroline Gibb

2008-05-14T18:43:00.000-06:00

Grace Caroline Gibb

Okay, so here goes my attempt at "blogging".

Today, at 11:38 AM our eighth child was born, Grace Caroline Gibb; a beautiful 8 lbs 15 oz, 19-1/2" baby girl. She has black hair and a healthy set of lungs. A recent poll concluded that 99% of all people found her to be perfect in every way. The remaining 1%, upon further questioning, admitted to spending excessive amounts of time engaged in omphaloskepsis and, oddly enough, are Super Delegates voting for Barack Obama. Go figure.

Here's some pictures of the days events and a video I got Spielberg to do for me.

Love the sappy music!

More photos:

Marie's nurse Nicki (sp?)

Grandma with Grandaughter

Ben, Kami & Gabe

Roberta

David

It was great having all the visitors. I failed to get pictures of them, but Art & Lisa and their kids came for a visit. Thanks everyone!

At one point we had all our kids, David & Roberta, G'ma Adcock, and Ben, Kami, and Gabe Adcock all visiting at the same time. It was baptism by fire for Grace, considering what it will be like when she comes home. At the hospital it was a constant battle between the kids to see who got to hold her. With seven siblings constantly fighting over holding rights, Grace will be lucky to learn to crawl by the time she's five.

Hannah

Andrea

Joseph

Emma, Kerina & Grace, Jarom

Porter

Emma

Jarom, who was very excited to see the new baby.

When we first announced some months ago that we were going to have another baby the kids immediately began choosing sides, gender-wise. The girls wanted a girl, the boys a boy. When we found out the gender and let the kids know, Jarom, who REALLY wanted a younger brother, yelled, "It's gonna be stupid!" and began to cry. It took some consoling, but he is now excited to be a big brother to a little sister.