CAKES: The One Man Show

The Deer Hunter

2009-10-28T21:06:00.007-06:00

After getting asked for the last several years by my Father-in-law to go on a deer hunt, I finally gave in this year and put in for the draw in the South Hills. I was told that it was an easy hunt because we can go around on 4-wheelers and can usually find one close to the road. I drew out and we went a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday. We left at 6 am and drove about 30 miles south of Oakley. Scott and I met Travis and Kelli at about 7 am and got on the 4-wheelers and started heading out on the trails. It was cold enough that you could see your breath and we were getting on 4-wheelers. Within a few minutes I couldn't feel my fingers. Travis and Kelli had been up the week before and had seen a large herd of deer at a certain spot. We started heading in that direction, but came upon a truck full of hunters and they were heading that same direction, so we turned around and headed more to the North. After riding around for a couple of hours and only seeing a couple of does and fawns (we were hunting bucks) we decided to split up. Scott and I headed one way and Travis and Kelli the other way. Scott and I had gone about 1/2 hour up the trail when my wonderful guide spotted some dear up in the trees. I could see 2 does and Scott thought he could see a buck laying down. We decided to head up to the top of the hill and then walk back down to see what they would do. We walked down about 25 yards and then the buck stood up. My heart started pumping and Scott quietly told me to get ready. He handed me the shooting sticks and I knelt down and scoped in the buck. He was about 120 yards away and was surrounded by does and was starting to walk away from us. Luckily they all didn't take off on a run because they didn't know where we were at. Scott whispered to me to wait for him to clear away from the does and when he is to take a shot. He slowly moved away from the others for a second and turned to the side so that I had a clear shot, but I wasn't ready. It all seemed to be happening so fast and I couldn't believe that this moment was happening. I hadn't shot a gun for at least a year and I hadn't been able to go and take any practice shots this fall either. He turned his back to me and my chance was gone. I kept my scope on him and he walked a little ways and then turned back to the left and stopped. Scott whispered to aim behind his shoulder. I don't know what I was thinking, but I was aiming in front of she shoulder. I held my breath and slowly squeezed the trigger. I closed my eyes after I shot because I didn't want the scope to pop me in the eye. I heard Scott say "You got him!" When I looked back in the scope I could see him kicking around on the ground. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I brought the 4-wheeler down and found that I had gotten a pretty nice little 3 point buck. I had shot him right through the neck and you could see where the bullet went in and where it went out. Scott then pulled out his knife and saw and handed them to me. With him talking me through it, I proceeded to gut my deer. I did ok, except for accidentally poking a hole in the bladder and having to wait for the urine to leak out. Other than that, it wasn't too bad. I was worried that it was going to stink really badly, but it didn't. After I finished gutting him, I took the heart and took a bite out of it....j/k. Nothing gross like that happened.

We then dragged him to the 4-wheeler and loaded him on the front. I have to admit that I was very sceptical about deer hunting. I actually enjoyed it because I felt like we were on a 4-wheeler ride with a purpose. I don't know if I will go every year, but I will probably go again. I know that I got pretty lucky and without Scott I would have never been able to find one on my own. I don't think I will consider myself a hunter, but I do see why people go out and do it. Being out in nature and trying to put some food on your families table is a great accomplishment.

Hunting License.......................................................$12.75

Deer Tag....................................................$19.75

Shooting your first deer at age 32.........Priceless!

Pale Rider

2009-09-02T21:28:00.002-06:00

I didn't ride yesterday due to the fact that I had a stomach problem. After lunch yesterday I started feeling a strain in my stomach. Needless to say, my lunch, breakfast, and dinner from the night before were gone. I wasn't feeling up to riding and took it easy. Tonight was different. I am feeling better and decided to get after it. I went E. on 27 and continued on 100 S. to 250 E. where I turned S. Once I was on this road, I felt like I was going uphill because I was having a hard time keeping my speed up above 16 mph. My legs were burning like crazy and my sides were aching. I felt like giving up and taking a rest, but decided that I had to keep going. I turned W. on 400 S. and continued over to 50 E. When I got onto 50 E. I was able to pick my speed up, so that I could feel the burn in my legs. It is impossible to see the slope to the roads, but I am assuming that when I am heading S. towards the hills, I am going slightly uphill and when I turn and head back to the N. I am going slightly downhill. This is my theory, not sure if it true. Here are my stats:

Distance: 11.48 miles
Max Speed: 22 mph
Avg. Speed: 16.5 mph
Time: 41:45 minutes
Calories Burned: 589.2
Fat Burned: 75.4

Back from a Break

2009-08-31T20:59:00.002-06:00

I need to first start off by thanking my awesome wife for letting me go out riding in the evening. She gets up at 6 am to run while I sleep, and is still willing to let me go out in the evening while she gets the girls ready for bed. We had family home evening tonight with Mom, Dad, Grandma Merz, and Kristen and the twins. After everyone left I was helping give kids baths and getting them ready for bed and was in my mind thinking that I wasn't going to get a ride tonight when Andrea asked if I was going to go out. So, I grabbed my helmet and took off. I had a goal to ride 10 miles tonight, but didn't know if I was going to be able to since I hadn't rode for a couple of days. Here are my stats:

Distance: 10.55 miles
Max Speed: 25.7 mph
Avg. Speed: 16.9 mph
Time: 37:33 minutes
Calories Burned: 544.2
Fat Burned: 69.7

The first 3 miles were hard. My legs felt like lead and I was thinking of turning around and heading back home. I was heading S. on 50 E. road and by the time I got to 400 s, I was feeling better and by the time I got to 500 s. I decided to head W. over to 50 W. Road. Once I got to 50 W road and headed N. back into town, I was feeling pretty good. I don't know if the road has a litte bit of a decline in it, but I felt like I could go faster. My legs were feeling pretty good so I tried to push my speed up and for the last 3 miles back, my speed was between 18-20 mph on average. I should have kept going S. on 50 E. and then turned back down the same route.

Day Three

2009-08-28T23:04:00.003-06:00

Day 3

I missed riding on thursday because I was helping someone in the ward move. I rode my bike to their place thinking that I could move them quick and then go on my ride. There was 6 of us from the elders quorum and we went to two different storage units. One of the guys in the ward just bought him a road bike and started riding. I asked how far he went on his first ride and he said 12 miles. I felt pretty much like a loser only going 3 miles on my first ride. I guess that means I have more room for improvement. Another guy from the ward road from Albion to connor creek and then back. If you are not familiar with this area, that is a very hilly ride, with uphill climbs both ways. I have heard of some guys riding from albion up to the mount harrison lookout and then back. I guess that I have a long ways to go before I can compete with that kind of riding.
Day 3 stats:
Distance: 7.98 miles
Max Speed: 20.1 mph
Average Speed: 16.2 mph
Total time: 29:38
Calories: 467.6
Fat: 53.3

I felt pretty good tonight, my legs were really sore at first but after about 2 miles they went fairly numb and I was able to push a little harder and make them burn, so I guess that I just need to get my muscles use to working again. Sitting at desk all day long is not a very good muscle building activity. I chose a pretty level route tonight with only 2 stops along the way. I started from Andrea's parents. I went W. on 27th to 50 W. Road and turned south. I went to 400 S. road and turned E. I then turned N. on 50 E. road and took that back to 100 S./27th. The last mile I really tried to push it and kept the speedometer between 18-20 mph. I am going to avoid stop signs tomorrow to see if that helps get that average speed up.

Part Deux

2009-08-26T21:28:00.003-06:00

Day 2 Stats:
Distance: 5.65 miles
Max Speed: 20.5 mph
Average Speed: 15.7 mph
Time: 21.48 minutes
Calories burned: 291.3
Fat burned: 36.3

Day 2 was a little bit of a different ride. I started off heading E. on 27th and immediately knew that it was going to be a hard ride because my legs were sore. I decided to turn S. on 50 E. road to avoid the big hill on 150 E. road. I would have been going downhill and didn't want to inflate my numbers, so I chose to ride on more of a flat surface. I rode down 50 E. road and then turned W. on 200 S. road and crossed highway 27. I continued W. to 150 W. road then turned N. About half way down this road, it turned to packed dirt and was quite bumpy and caused me to slow down. I made it to 100 S. and turned E. I then headed back into town and to home. The route was fairly level with one slight incline. I think that I need to stay on a country road that has no stop signs so I can keep riding without stopping. I had to stop 3 times because of stop signs at busy intersections. When I got home my legs felt like jello and my right arm and hand were numb. I must have been favoring that side? I feel pretty good about the distance that I rode. I am certain that my average speed will go up if I avoid slowing and stopping at intercections. I went out at 7 pm and it was much better riding in the daylight. The temperature was about 85 degrees, but I encountered far less bugs and didn't eat any tonight. I need to get a waterbottle cage to keep some water with me. I will try a different route tomorrow to see if I can bring my average speed up.

Tour de Farce

2009-08-25T21:14:00.006-06:00

Back in July I went and watched my friend Matt participate in the Spudman. The Spudman is the local triathalon considered "Olympic distance" consisting of 1.5 km (0.93 mi) run, 40 km (24.8 mi) bike, and a 10 km (6.2 mi) run. Also known as "international distance", "standard course", or "short course". Watching Matt and the other athletes made me think that if I really wanted to, I could do the Spudman. Heck, I played sports in high school and still played basketball during the winter. Sure, I have gained some weight since high school (40 lbs.) and my main form of exercise is mowing my lawn. Not to mention that the last time I swam 1 mile was for the swim check at Camp Bradley when I was 13 years old. I rode a bike alot on my mission, but that has been over 10 years ago now. The main thing that I am worried about is the bike portion. Most everyone that partcipates in the event rides a road bike or a tri bike....I don't have any bike.
A week after the Spudman, Andrea and I had gone down to Utah for our anniversary and we stayed with her Uncle John and Aunt Leslie. John use to ride alot and has a road bike hanging in his garage. In visiting with them we were talking about some of the rides that he went on and I mentioned that I was thinking about training for the Spudman. I asked if he would be willing to sell his bike. Without hesitation, he said that I could just have it. That is how I got a free bike. Now, this bike needs some work to get it up to riding condition. I have spent $110 on new tubes and tires, handlebar wrap, $27 for new pedals, and $20 for a wireless bike computer. I have a neighbor that has offered to sell me his helmet for $50, but that will have to wait until next month. Andrea's cheap flower helmet will have to do for now.

I have decided to keep a diary of my training to see my progress and to get some tips from anyone out there that has or is training for a triathalon. I think that the swimming part will be the hardest part to train for, so I will focus on biking and running for now and worry about the swim when the Spudman gets closer. The next Spudman is July 31, 2010 and the registration opens on January 4, 2010. With fall upon us, I will not have much time to train until it is time to register. I started riding last night, but it was a short ride and I was testing my new computer. Tonight was my first official ride and here were my stats:

Distance: 3.607 miles
Time: 15:17 minutes
Max Speed: 23.2 mph
Avg. Speed: 14.3 mph
Calories burned: 187.1
Fat Grams burned: 22.2
Weight: 215 lbs.

I went hometeaching tonight, so I didn't start until about 8:30 pm and the sun was just setting. I rode down our street and turned E. on 27th, stayed E. on 100 s road, S. on 150 E. road. I had downshifted and when I upshifted, I lost my chain. I forgot to mention that the bike is a 21 speed, with the shifters on the uptube, so I found out that you have to get the levers just right or they rub on the chain, and if you go too far, it throws the chain off. The chain got stuck between the rear sprocket and the frame, and I had to pull on it pretty hard to get it unstuck. My hands were black with grease, so I walked into the potato field and washed them off with the sprinkler. I decided when I got back to my bike that it was too dark and I had better head back home. I got home and was pretty spent. My legs are pretty sore and I was sweating pretty good. I am so out of shape that I am not sure what my goal should be. I guess that I need to do some research on training to see what I should be shooting for. Keep you posted.

Summer Vacation 2009

2009-08-15T20:45:00.004-06:00

I am not the most creative when it comes to making videos. I just like to get the pictures out there in a more entertaining format than just page after page of pictures. We had a great time in Florida, even though we got rained on every day but the day we went to the beach...ironic, I know. Thanks to John and Susan for putting up with us for 8 days. It was so nice after a long day of playing to come back to a home with lots of room for the kids to unwind and to have home cooked meals (thanks to Aunt Susan). We left Sophie at home with Andrea's parents and were grateful to them for keeping her safe. I guess in a couple of years we will need to take her to Disneyland, when she will remember it. Good times were had by all.

The Weight of the World

2008-11-12T20:53:00.004-07:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I last blogged. I am getting ready to go and play basketball for the first time since February and I am having a hard time getting the energy to go. I had the realization that I needed to get some exercise today at work. I had to take some papers to a customer that was just down the street from the branch. I didn't run or even walk fast. I got back into the branch and was told that I had a phone call waiting. I picked up the line and the first thing that the person on the other end said was that I sounded out of breath.....I told him that I must be out of shape because I basically walked less than 100 yards. Here's my sign.

I have justified gaining a few pounds because I was made fun of in high school for being so skinny and it felt good to actually have some meat on my bones. Granted, most of the meat is around my midsection. It has been good to play basketball and not get pushed around the paint, but I actually do the pushing. I have been told by many a church ball foes that, and I quote, "am a force to be reckoned with." I think it was more for my girth on the basketball court than my skills, but I took it as a compliment anyways. I weigh about 220 lbs. and would ideally like to be around 200 lbs. I think that I will wait for basketball season to get over to start losing that extra 20.

I had better head up to the church. When we first moved into this ward 5 years ago, I was one of the "young ones." Thanks to a couple of new housing developements, I am now one of the "older ones" that gets out and plays. I hope that my experience counts for something. If not my weight should.

Jazz out.....so am I

2008-05-19T23:57:00.002-06:00

The Jazz finished another season with another playoff collapse. It seems like they play so well and then come up against a team (Spurs or Lakers) and then they forget that the point of stepping onto the court is to score baskets. When it comes to NBA Basketball, I am a playoffs guy. I don't see the point of watching game number 58 of 88 during the regular season that has absolutely no meaning, other than to make millionaires more money. I would rather wait until only the best teams remain. Now, I do watch sportscenter during the season to stay up on who is doing what, but overall, I don't really care.

I think that TNT was absolutely brilliant for starting their 40 games in 40 nights promo during the playoffs. I think that I have watched almost every night, thanks to a longer spring, there hasn't been much reason to be out in the yard. Tonight, with the Jazz out, I was able to get alot done outside. (see following detail in chronological order)

Arrived home from work
ate dinner
changed into lawn mowing clothes
decided to start gas powered trimmer that I never winterized.
Andrea can see I may be a while, starts mowing lawn.
started gas powered trimmer. (no longer have any feeling to right arm.)
started trimming edges and let string get too short and pulled into trimmer head.
removed trimmer head and rethread string.
continued trimming, felt rock bounce off forehead above right eye. Glad I had sunglasses on.
ran trimmer out of gas.
mixed gas and oil and refilled trimmer.
let Kensie and Ellie smell gas, after hearing that it smells good, warned about smelling gas too much.
finished trimming edges of yard.
Took over mowing, listened to Dave Matthews Band and Coldplay on Ipod.
Ipod ran out of battery, had to finish mowing without music. Time seemed to stand still.
started sprinkler system while finished mowing the back yard.
Forgot that 1st station waters part of the backyard.
huried to finish mowing area in back yard where 1st watering station gets wet.
Put swings up on swingset so I wouldn't get tangled in them.
ran mower into swingset leg and baby swing flew down and smacked me in the head.
cursed swing to you-know-where and finished mowing back yard.
decided to change oil in lawnmower, since it had been over 2 years since I had done it last.
changed oil and removed blades to get sharpened.
scraped off green grassy grunge under mower deck.
cleaned up mess.
tried to start mower to circulate new oil and found that it would not start.
reinstalled blades and started mower.
ran for a minute and then drained oil again.
added new oil and started again to circulate oil.
removed blades.
put away mower just in time for second water station to start watering.
Realized that each station takes 1 hour and that I had spent about 45 min. changeing oil in lawnmower.
Watered new plants and tree out front.
Saw that they were looking a little droopy and that I needed to make area around each plant to keep water from running off.
Called Robert to see about taking some dirt from his dirt pile.
Took down wheelbarrow and went to neighbors to get dirt.
Repeated this step twice.
Watered plants.
Repaired various breaks in water dams.
Was remined of changing water as a kid with siphon tubes and gaited pipe and having to fix the corrugates that would break open.
Remembered the long skinny ballon that Brady and I found in the ditch, that we couldn't get to blow up. Showed Dad and he asked us why we were trying to blow up a condom?

Sweet niblets!

2008-03-13T23:43:00.007-06:00

I was home today for a few hours watching Ellie and Sophie so Andrea could go to an eye doctor appointment. I turned up the radio for a new song by Rihanna. To be perfectly honest, I don't have a clue who she is, but the song is kind of catchy. I start to do a goofy little dance for sophie and she thinks it is pretty funny. As you can imagine that it is pretty easy for a 6'4" white guy that has no natural rhythm, to look like a complete dork while dancing. It is a good laugh for those in the room. I submit to the judges that girls start giggling around 16 months old and it continues on until... well okay, so it never really stops.

For you Hannah Montana aficionados out there, like myself, you probably recognize the title of my post. Kensie has been saying this phrase constantly for a week now. "Where did she get that from?" I ask Andrea. "Guess." she says. "School?" I say. "No, guess again." she says with a slight hint of disgust in her voice for my lackluster guessing skills. "Disney channel?" I retort. "Hannah Montana." she replies back with no emotion in her voice, due to the fact that she has heard this phrase about 100 times that afternoon. "Ohhh!" I reply. "Hannah Montana, should have guessed that one."

Now we all know that some of the best "one-liners" come from movies and TV. I can remember in high school quoting the Chris Farley movie"Tommy Boy" about a million times. As a tribute to this classic I have compiled a short list of quotes from the movie.

1. "Son of a....that's gonna leave a mark!"

2. "Holy Shnikeys!"

3. "Does this suit make me look fat?" "No, your face does."

4. "Your my naughty little pet!"

5. "Housekeeping!"

6. "Fat guy in little coat."

Please feel free to tell me your favorite "Tommy Boy" quote that I may have left out.

View of John Hancock Building from Lincoln Park Zoo

Sidebar: While on my mission I was serving in an area just north (Lincoln Park) of downtown (the loop) Chicago where he died. He lived in the John Hancock building, which is where he was found dead from a drug overdose, and I remember looking at that building from a distance and thinking that I would never laugh again. Immediately upon returning home I rented "Beverly Hills Ninja." I never finished it. I think I fell asleep. Needless to say, the wounds have healed.

Winter fun

2008-02-25T21:04:00.004-07:00

I was looking at some of the pictures that I have taken this winter and found this one. During christmas, I borrowed blair's snowmobile and we went up into the hills with andrea's family and went sledding. I took everyone on snowmobile rides back into the trees and over to thompson's flat. It was a great day to go sledding. I love doing activities with my girls. It is fun to be with them when they experience something for the first time. They love riding on the 4 wheelers, so they both had a blast. I only got stuck once, and spent about 15 minutes digging and trying to pack the snow around me and lifting and moving the snowmobile around so it was finally facing downhill. It is not easy doing all of that when you sink into the snow up to your waist.

We have had a couple of good days of snow, but this day was one of the better ones. The girls go out and play, but they only last for about 1/2 hour before they get "bored". They then go in for hot cocoa. I think that the only reason they want to go outside is so that they get cold and have an excuse to have hot cocoa. Pretty smart if that's the case.

New Years resolutions

2008-01-08T00:03:00.000-07:00

We had a very great Christmas and New Years with alot to be thankful for. I was able to find a job that kept us here locally after my brief stint as a mortgage loan officer. I have always felt that if you are doing what is right, the Lord will bless you, and we have definately been blessed with me finding a great job back with US Bank. For the record, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

We spent christmas with the Smith's this year. Everyone made it down and we even had a few extra thanks to Scott and Erica. They took in 2 girls from CSI's volleyball team. Nachi and Yelli spent 4 days straight with total strangers and seemed to enjoy their time with our family. We took them sledding up at pomerelle and I even borrowed one of blair's snowmobiles and took the two foreigners on their first snowmobile ride up over to thompson flats. It is really pretty up there in the winter with all of the snow.

Christmas day was alot of fun. Dad and Mom came over in the morning to see the girls open presents. Mom got called into work, so she dropped off dad and we had to wait almost an hour for everyone to wake up. I think that it is pretty fun for the girls to think that Santa made some magical trip to bring them something on christmas morning. They were so excited to leave santa some milk and cookies. Kensie and Ellie both warned me that the cookies were for Santa and to not eat them. I promised them that I would save them for Santa. They also unlocked the front door so santa could get into the house, since we didn't have a chimney for him to come down. Mom had brought stuff to make german pancakes for breakfast. After we ate breakfast, we went to Smith's and spent the rest of the day over there. It was a nice relaxing day. The kids were so good with each other. Usually there is fighting and alot of crying, but during that weekend, they were all really good together.

Mom and Dad helped us buy a table for our christmas present. We also got our name entered into a drawing for a new queen size serta mattress. I was very suprised when I got the call from the furniture store that they had drawn my name out. This is definately the biggest thing I have ever won that didn't require me to answer some trivia question on the radio. I guess it goes to show that even morons get lucky every now and then.

We survived new years by watching the ball drop on fox news at 10:00 pm local time and then watched some crazy dude set the world record motorcycle jump by clearing 320+ feet through the air. It was just a typical new years, pretty boring.
I need to go and take care of coughing kids. I will update more later.

Our family photo

2007-12-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

The girls in their christmas dresses

The Coolest Christmas Party

2007-12-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was pretty wild for us. We were pretty jam packed with activities. The girls both performed at festival of trees. Kensie actually performed twice. She sang with the Dworshak Kindergarten classes on Friday afternoon. I think that I need to get my head examined because when I worked in Burley and everything was within a few miles drive, I drove the junky white car that got 30 miles to the gallon. Now that I work in Rupert, which is a 9 mile drive from home, I drive a gas guzzling pickup that gets 16 miles to the gallon. So, a drive to Burley Friday afternoon to watch Kensie perform cost me $3.07, when in the white car it would have cost me around $1.53 to make the same trip. The price you pay to ride in style. I don't even think about what it costs me to watch my little girls perform, because it is very much worth the trip. I think that the moment I make work or money more important that seeing my girls grow up first hand is the day that I have lost touch with what is important in life.

The good thing is that the girls had 2 dance performances over in Rupert, so I was really close to go and watch those. I actually like working in Rupert because alot of bank customers have no idea who I am or who my parents are. When I was in Burley, it seemed like most people knew me from when I was young or knew my parents. Not that them knowing my parents is a negative thing, because it was not at all. I just like the fact that I am not the "little boy" they use to know. In Rupert, I can kind of be my own Man, (insert Tim Allen impersonation here). I am learning more about my job responsibilities each and every day. Sometimes when I sit and think about what I am responsible for at the bank, I feel like I am too young to have so much responsibility on my shoulders. Good thing I am not much of a thinker, because I might implode.

Andrea threw a bridal shower Saturday for a girl in the ward. Andrea works with her mom, Lisa, at Dr. Pickup's office. This girl does not have any sisters, so Andrea was her sister for the day and threw her a bridal shower. I took the girls and went out to Mom and Dad's to help hang Christmas lights. I am not sure what Dad was doing Thanksgiving weekend, because the weather was warm and windless. This last Saturday it was probably in the low 20's with the windchill, and there I am up on the roof, stepping over snow drifts, thinking to myself that at least I have some life insurance to help Andrea out until she finds a replacement husband. I am serious, I was sitting at the peak of the roof leaning over to slide the light hanger under the shingles and I thought to myself which would snap first if I fell; my neck or my back? I looked down and there is dad, feet firmly on the ground, nonchalantly wrapping lights around the vinyl fence. I even think I could here him whistling. My life was in the balance up on the roof and dad was worried if he had enough lights to make it to the end of the fence. Yeah, I had sucker written across my forehead, actually it was wind burnt onto my forehead.

Denton and Virgene Darrington had a family Christmas party at their house Monday night. We were invited to attend and went to visit, eat, and get presents. Yeah, we were told presents, but it turned out they were not the presents I was thinking. Denton goes to different conventions as a senator and collects stuff, to put it nicely. It is the kind of stuff you get when walking through the commercial building during fair time. Various items with the business logo on them. Picture in your minds eye the following scenario. Crowded into the bonus room above Denton and Virgene's garage are 40 Darringtons of different ages. Denton is standing at the end of this room hovering over a table filled with bottles, bags, pins, pencils, rulers, stuffed animals, T-shirts, etc, etc. There are probably close to 200 items on this table. He picks up each item, tells you exactly what it is down to the wording written across it. After each description, 20 different hands go up and you here 20 different, "Me!Me!Me!" yelled at him. Denton scans the faces of the hands and through the power of deduction and reasoning.... okay, he just gestures the item toward a couple of different hands in mock throwing motions, and then finally throws it to whomever he feels like throwing it to. It is easily on of the funnies things that I have witnessed in a long time.

If he can't think of the proper term for the item, he describes to you what it is used for and how it can benefit you. "I have here a sticky thing that you put on the dashboard of your car to hold cell phones, sun glasses, or whatever you need to hold on the dash of your car, I have one of these and they are great!" he exclaims with the tenacity of a used car salesman sealing the deal. Denton truly enjoyed giving away all of this stuff he had collected. After about 1/2 hour, each kid in the room had at least 3 items, and their excitement had worn off. I don't know if it is the fact that these kids have been given the same kind of stuff year after year and they don't want any more of it, or if they just got bored after so long. Not my girls. Every item that Denton held up, they would jump up and down and yell, "Me!Me!Me!Me!" I think Kensie got at least 10 different items and Ellie probably got 8 things. It was really quite humorous. It was a fun party. I think about all of the Darringtons that live in Declo, and I really can't think of any of them that are weird or strange. They are just some really good people.

This coming weekend Andrea is going to Utah with Mom and Kristen to shop and see the lights at Temple Square. I am staying home with the kids. I will let you know how that goes next time. until then. Later.

Watch out Simon!

2007-11-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

We had the opportunity today to put on a sacrament meeting at two different long-term care facilities. Each ward in the stake takes a turn for one month. Our elders quorum was in charge for November. We decided as an EQP to split up the Sundays and to each take a turn. It is basically a condensed version of sacrament meeting. I though about having Kensie and Ellie sing a song for a musical number. Andrea played for them and we had been practicing for a couple weeks.

Today was their big performance and they did so good. There was probably about 15 people at the first care center and the girls stood up in front of them and did really good. They sang one verse of "I am a child of God," even though it was mostly Kensie singing. Andrea had them dressed in their Christmas dresses and they looked really cute. I am of course very biased. It was a very proud moment for me as a father to see my girls doing something that is very grown up. Afterwards I took the girls around and we shook the hands of all those in attendance. Ellie seemed a little nervous about the whole thing and wanted to sit on my lap for some of the meeting, but she still stood up and sang with her big sister and then shook hands afterwards.
Older people can be a bit scary for kids, but hopefully these will be some positive experiences that will help curb those fears for my kids.

Grandma Darrington has been staying with Dad and Mom for the past few days. I was a little worried that Kensie and Ellie would be afraid of her because she has a walker and they haven't been around her much. They both did great and Kensie even showed grandma to the bathroom and made sure she made it safely.

Today we went to the Declo 2nd Ward to support dad in his final day as bishop. It was a neat meeting. You could tell that Dad had some really great experiences as bishop and that he will miss parts of his calling. Val pointed out that his father, Roy, and Grandpa Darrington had both served in the bishopric when the old Declo church was built and that he and Dad had served together for the building of the new church. I don't think that it was a coincidence that Dad was the bishop for the building of the new church.

Thanksgiving was fun. Dad, Blair, Dennis, Jared, and I went and shot clay pigeons before lunch. It was cold and windy and we were shooting into the wind. The pigeons acted like Frisbees in the wind and would just float up in the air forever. After 180 pigeons and 300 shotgun shells, we were spent. We ate a big dinner and then I took the traditional thanksgiving day football nap. That is the nap you take while "watching" the game.

I had to work on Friday and Andrea wanted to go shopping with her mom in twin, so we got a babysitter for the girls. Usually we have family watch them, but this time it was one of the girls from the ward. They did fine with her and Andrea was home by 2pm. I was scolded by Kensie the moment I walked through the door because I didn't call to check up on them. She sounded like my mother after I got home late from a date or something. I guess next time I had better call home to check up on them. Sophie is walking alot more and is starting to throw tantrums like a big girl. I guess we are starting the terrible two's a year early. She is healthy and happy and so much fun to be around. Until next time. Later.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Branch Manager

2007-10-10T21:22:00.001-06:00

I think this had to be one of the best weekends in a long time for me. I had no church responsibilities on Sunday thanks to conference and was off work on Monday. We didn't do anything real exciting this weekend which was nice. We did take advantage of the local case lot sales and finally filled up the shelves dad help me build last fall with food storage. It looks like a mini-supermarket now. I hope we never have to use it for a real emergency, so for now we will try and rotate it so that it does not go bad.

I went to the priesthood session of conference Saturday night and made the mistake of sitting in the middle of a long bench. I ended up completely surrounded on both sides. The guy on my right I recognized from church basketball as one of the jerk players. I must admit that I will, on rare occasions, turn into one of these kind of players. (I think Andrea told me after last season that she won't come and watch me anymore because of how I act) I think they are known as the Jekyll and Hyde player. "He was a mild mannered banker, but when he put on his Reebok's, he turns into the Charles Barkley character in Space Jam." I like to think that I am just being competitive, but I can't help it if someone is being a jerk on the court and I feel the need to treat them how they are treating everyone else. I just get so mad when someone else is treating a stupid game of church basketball like it is the NBA Finals. Part of the problem is that the referees are usually two guys that you played the week before and I might have had a couple of hard fouls on them that didn't get called, so they feel the need to take revenge against me by calling any little hand check or bump a foul. (Wow, where did that come from?) Back to the priesthood session.

I was being a good boy and taking notes in my little notebook. Well, this guy for one, could not sit still. I think that he forgot to take his Ritalin or something. When I would write something down, I could see him looking down at what I was writing! I felt like he was judging me by every word that I wrote down. I kept thinking about what a jerk he was when we played basketball against each other. I could not even concentrate and it was really bugging me because all of the talks were really good. It usually seems like the priesthood session becomes the "Aaronic priesthood" session and I tune out most of the talks. This session was geared towards the adults and it was great.

I must admit that I felt a little down seeing all of the fathers with their sons and coming to the realization that I will never have a son to attend the priesthood session with. I had the thought come to my mind that I can still use that session to benefit my daughters. I must continue to be a good husband to their mother and father to them so that they will marry good young men.

Monday was another adventure. Andrea had a couple of cancellations so she had me and the girls come in for dental appointments. The last dental appointment of Kensie's turned up two small cavities. This time she had 7 cavities. No, that is not a typo, you read correctly, 7. For the daughter of a hygeinist, this is a little embarrassing. I guess it is a good thing that we get free dental care, or we would be broke right now. I think that if we didn't have the benefit of free dental care I would say forget fillings because they are her baby teeth and are going to fall out anyways.

We went to the pumpkin patch over in Paul for FHE. This has turned into a great annual family activity. The weather was in the 70's, so we decided that waiting untill later in the month was taking a chance on crappy weather. Last year was cold and wet, so the warm weather made for a nice outing.

There is a Cadillac commercial on TV that has a song on it that brought back memories. Thanks to the internet I was able to look up the Cadillac commercial on their website and it showed who the group was and the name of the song. The name of the song is "Stars" and the band is called "Hum." I then went to itunes and it listed the album with all of the songs on it. I had bought a compilation CD through some CD club when I was 15 or 16 that had "Stars" on it and onther song by "Hum" called "I hate it too" that I use to listen to all the time. I only had a few CD's and on long basketball trips on the bus, I would listen to all of them more than once. Hearing these forgotten songs, reminded me of basketball games in high school. I don't know what happened to that CD, but I had to download the songs off of itunes. It is funny how you hear, see, or smell something that brings out a forgotten memory. This was one of those moments.

Rest in Peace Crocodile Hunter

2007-09-20T21:06:00.000-06:00

I write today to talk about famous people. Why do we have such a fascination with the everyday lives of people that are actors, athletes, politicians, and the like? OJ Simpson was recently arrested and charged with armed robbery. They have him on a tape recording doing the robbery. I imagine that he will probably be going to jail because of this. It seems ironic that he would go to jail for a lesser crime than the murder he committed all those years ago. I remember watching his slow speed chase on TV back in 1994 and I remember being shocked that an athlete of his caliber was being accused of such a horrendous crime. I also remember being a freshman at Idaho State and watching the verdict read. The "boos" from the white kids was drowned out by the cheers from the black kids. It was my first time witnessing the line between black and white. Later, as a missionary, I would find myself in the Southside of Chicago, where I was the minority and would learn firsthand that racism isn't only a white issue.

Back to OJ. I remember almost buying OJ's rookie card at the local card shop. I am sure that Brady remembers the card shop. I think every hard earned dollar was spent in that place during that one summer. I still have all of my football cards in my basement, because my mom threatened to throw them out unless I came and got them out of her house. I guess that I think about all of the money that I spent on them would be wasted by throwing them away . Never mind the fact that I have, in a sense, already thrown away my money. Deep down I am hoping that one day I will be able to sell some of them to pay for my kids college..... anyway, back to my OJ point. He is now the latest media circus freak and because of his sordid past, people can't get enough of it.

I was told by Andrea today that Kensie was watching animal planet and Steve Irwin the crocodile hunter's show was on. He was wrangling snakes (I think that is the correct term) and Andrea made a comment about him getting bit by the snakes. Kensie said to her in a matter-of-fact tone that he is the crocodile hunter and would never get hurt by an animal. She didn't say anything, because it would make for a complicated explanation. She wasn't trying to avoid the "death talk," but did not want to explain how he is dead when he is very much alive on the TV. If you have a 5 year old, you understand.

We have been very open with our children about death because we have a picture of Makenna that they have asked numerous questions about. Andrea and I have explained to them why Makenna died and they have been very receptive to hearing about their older sister. Kensie will sometimes out of the blue say something about Makenna and reassure us that Makenna is safe and in a better place. It is really quite cute.

I learned about death, and life, from living on the farm. Watching your dad shoot a suffering sow in the head with a .22 is seeing that death can sometimes equal a positive. I would have to say that watching a boar and a sow getting their groove thing on, is a disgusting way to learn about life and procreation. I am certain that any kid witnessing two pigs getting their freak on, would want to avoid the opposite sex at all cost.

The media is both a good and bad force in our universe. The positive is that we have the ability to learn about anything as soon as it happens. The negative side to this is that we learn about anything as soon as it happens. I remember watching the second plane hit the world trade tower on live TV and it was horrifying. I hope to never have to witness anything like it in my lifetime. Our soldiers that are fighting the war on terror should be thanked. I personally want to thank my sister Sarah and her husband Stephen for serving our country in Iraq. It is because of their service that we get the opportunity to watch celebrities being idiots. Then these same idiot celebrities are allowed the center stage of the media circus to say their idiotic rhetoric about our leaders and the soldiers that serve our country. They need to realize that it is these same soldiers that provide them this freedom of speech to say the idiotic things that they think are so important.

Rest in peace Crocodile Hunter, I guess Kensie was right, you can't be harmed by animals anymore.

The Newbie

2007-09-18T22:56:00.000-06:00

Well, I have decided to jump into the world of blogging. I have been inspired from reading brady, scott, and rob's blogs over the past couple of weeks. I have decided that this might be a good way to keep a journal of sorts. I also have the opportunity to be awake late because sophie (10 months) and ellie (3 yrs) are both sick and cry out every 10 minutes or so. I jump up and run into the babies room to give sophie the pacifier. Every time I give her the pacifier, I feel like Pavlov's dog! It is a vicious cycle.

I just started a new job a few weeks ago. I was working at US Bank as a personal banker in burley and then was offered a supposed high paying commission job as a mortgage lender. I should have seen the warning signs, especially when the words high paying, commission, and mortgage lender are used in the same sentence. I did this for about 5 months and then my branch was closed down by the company. If you follow the news at all, you probably could see that coming with all of the sub prime fallout. It was ok, because then I was able to actually start bringing in some money for my family in the form of unemployment checks. If you have ever had to file for unemployment, I am sure that it ranks up there with childbirth, kidney stones, and seeing Hillary Clinton elected president. I was unemployed for 3 short weeks and then was hired as the branch manager of the Rupert branch of US Bank. I know that if I would have stayed as a banker, they would have never considered me for this position. I am sure that the faith and prayers of my family helped considerably. Long story short, I am getting a regular paycheck for the first time in 2 1/2 months.

I have a 15 minute commute to work now and I am not sure how to handle this. My last trip to work took me 5 minutes and that is if I got unlucky and had to stop at the 4 stoplights that I passed through. It is ok, I found some good podcasts and listen to them on the way to rupert every morning. It beats listening to talk radio shows. There are only 2 local talk radio programs that you can pick up in burley, one is broadcast from burley and the other out of twin falls. The funny thing about these shows is the people that call into them. They are always the same people with the same points and complaints. The talk show hosts calls them by their first name and thinks it is great hearing the same lame points from the same lame people every day. Only in Burley.

Well, I am sure that if you read this, that you will probably not be coming back for more. I will try and have some funny stuff like the other bloggers that I have read. I guess that I needed to get a few things out in the open to begin with and will try and be more entertaining in the future. Later