The Heist

I'm such an amateur. I'm not really sure how this is going to work, but I'll figure this out somehow...Ben composed song a while ago on the guitar, he titled it "The Heist". His guitar teacher taught him a base line for the song, a little garage band drum magic and Ben has his first recording! Click on the link below to hear it. Let's hope this works!

http://www.box.net/shared/99y12uds3j#The_Heist

Happy Halloween! (muwahahahah)

Halloween seemed to come really early this year. Suddenly it was 5 days before and we had no costume for Ben (Big plans, just nothing done yet) ideas for Will (we're big on planning) luckily Lily was taken care of (surprisingly a fairy-not a princess).
Monday we bought Ben some trash cans - he was so excited. You see, we made Ben's costume out of 2 red trash cans (totally cool idea - but wow that was a lot of work. Have you ever tried to 'cut' a trash can? Let alone cut a trash can in a desired shape? Suffice it to say we all had blisters.) If you come by be sure to ask to see it. It's not on display, but Jay and Ben will gladly show off their handy work.
While Ben and Jay were furiously making patterns and creating, Will was still in need of a football helmet. Have you ever tried to buy a football helmet? It ain't easy - especially if you're going to be picky and want a certain college football teams logo on there. After 3 days of looking, calling (why on earth wouldn't U of U bookstore not have a helmet?!), and web searching we ended up buying a Raiders costume. A little red spray paint and VOILA! Only we needed the drum and feather logo. I went to the U of U bookstore to get the stickers and GUESS WHAT?!! They had helmets on the shelves. Just put out that morning...isn't that great? (AAAAUUUUGGGHHH) Ah well. Bygones.
Next thing you know it's time to trick or treat. We even saw Carlos Boozer out trick-or-treating! His kid's costumes were nowhere near as cool as Ben or Will's...I'm sure he was really jealous.
Jay and I went as Han Solo and Princess Leia. The pictures were erased in a freak deleting accident - but we were awesome.


Lily had to walk on the other side of the street past this house. Too scary!













Hope that your Halloween was spooky and everyone still has candy left over!

To be an Outreacher

Looking back now, it's hard to believe that we debated whether we could spare the time to go to dinner at Ron and Sandi's house this evening. Under those smiles is sheer terror.


When I decided 2 or 3 years ago to get my grad degree in Speech and Language Pathology I was thrilled to find out about USU's outreach program. I could take my classes online and spend a few short weeks over the summer taking classes. It wouldn't be so hard! I knew that it would be a challenge. I knew that it wouldn't be easy. I knew there would be some sacrifice.

I had absolutely NO idea.

It's nearly impossible to explain to someone what it's like during an outreach summer. I've tried. People always think I'm exaggerating.

I try to tell them about one week that began with a test and then over the next 4 days we had 4 papers and 5 presentations to give. I tell people that I only slept for 8 hours that week. I explain that if it weren't for the blue RockStar I'd never have made it. (coffee is a wimp). Generally I get a shocked expression and then a smile and a nod. (for some reason people are prone to not taking me seriously)



It's hard to convey the sense of urgency that 15 weeks of classes crammed into 6 weeks is really like. You find yourself questioning if there's time for extra curricular activities . . . like sleeping, showering or eating.



The monumental amounts of information that is forced into your brain. The unbelievable amounts of information that your brain can absorb! The amazing butt muscles you develop sitting for 8 hours a day!



The one thing that really surprised me -and was even more important than RockStar in helping me survive- were the friendships I forged in 6 short weeks. I think I might understand a bit of how soldiers feel about each other when they go into war. Going through Hell can really bring people together!



In 2010 we will be finished with this odyssey. It will be so nice to get a life again and not have to study constantly--but I have to say, I will really miss spending my summer in sheer panic with each and every one of those 25 people that I've come to care about so much.



It's been hard, but I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.



Looking forward to Summer '09 and all of us feeling overwhelmed and freaked out together!

Ben takes 1st place!

A few weeks ago Ben's class learned about haiku and Ben wrote a spectacular haiku poem. His teacher, Mr. Airhart, entered it into a contest sponsored by the Community Writing Center (CWC) and Ben took first place! (I'm so proud!)

On October 2nd, the CWC is holding a Haiku Event (special dinner with guest speaker) and Ben is going to be reading his haiku that night.

Here is the winner!

Knights with swords attack
Catapults sling their rubble
A war has begun.

Archers shoot arrows
The enemy is dead now
A war has been won.

"I'm a Little Stinkpot"

A favorite family passtime is to make up funny versus to songs. Sometimes they're so funny they stick, others we sing once and it's forgotten. This is one that really stuck.


"I'm a little stink pot short and stout,
See me tantrum, see me pout.
When I get all steamed up hear me shout
Just put me right into time out!"

Late Night Jokes Of The Week: McCain's Houses, Hillary's Pan

Republicans love America, they just hate half the people living in it. Classic.

read more | digg story

50 crazy years

Dedicated to the 2 people that made
this trip possible - on so many levels.










Mom and Dad have been married for 50 years! So those of us who owe our existence (or the existence of a spouse) to that marriage all went to Puerto Penasco, Mexico for the week to enjoy each other and celebrate the union of the 2 people that we love most. It was so much fun! We played a lot of poker, (I almost won) played in the waves, read breaking dawn, (props to Emily) explored the sea life after dark (we almost caught a fish) and generally had an amazingly great time.







On our way to Puerto Penasco we stopped at the Dairy Queen in Ajo, CA. The kids that work at this particular dairy queen apparently had a little too much time on their hands because the menu board had been altered to include a lot of items that you would not normally be able to get at a dairy queen; such as 'star piss', 'strawberry shortcock' and a new menu item called 'eat dik'.









Lily and Brianna had a fantastic time riding in the coin operated truck. The really great part was that neither of them wanted the truck to actually move, so no coins were necessary!








Cudos to Jeff for getting us all to sit down so Mom and Dad could tell us their memories of dating, getting married and raising a family. It was so much fun listening to the old stories and sharing memories of each other.




****** Jay gets the award for picture of the week for capturing this shot of Archie diving into the waves-------------->
Freakin' awesome! **************






The ocean was perfect, the sand was HOT, the company was fantastic and the food was delicious. I have so many great memories of the trip.


I've included a few of my favorite pictures.

















I generally consider myself a pretty good record keeper when it comes to taking pictures and documenting memories that way. I'm afraid I was having way too much fun this time. If you have some pictures that I should add for all to see, please send them along.







I'll always remember Cindy like this -------->








Thanks to Jay for bringing the IK. It was so much fun (I apologize for thinking that we would be swept out to sea to be eaten by sharks and giant squid. It was fantastic)
















Malarie, Will and Lily were willing to let me try out a new idea and we made handprints in the sand with shells and plaster of paris. After a few trials I think they turned out pretty dang good.
Props to Jay for mixing the plaster of paris for me - even if I am an unrelenting, impossible-to-please-perfectionist at times.