The Bear's Special Day

The long anticipated day finally came. The Bear turned 8 on January 3rd, which made him eligible to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Depending on the day and minute the Bear either was looking forward to it, or apprehensive about it.

DramaMama and I talked to him a lot about why we get baptized, and worked with him not to be worried or scared. He has been concerned about having to go all the way under the water.

One of the most special things about it for me is that I was able to be the one to baptize and confirm him.

When we arrived at the Kimball East Stake Center where the baptism was held, we both went and got changed into the white clothes you see us wearing in the picture. The Bear was feeling anxious, so we said a prayer together in the changing room. His feelings came and went, but when we were talking to our Bishop, The Bishop could tell that the Bear was a little stressed, so he and I went into a room in the Stake offices where we gave him a comfort blessing to help be calm.

DramaMama brought an activity book about baptism that helped keep him distracted. As this was a stake baptismal service, there were several other children being baptized today as well, several of which the Bear knew from church and school. That helped him relax a bit. For those unfamiliar with our church, I offer a few explanations: Our congregations are referred to as "wards", and several of these wards comprise a stake. So there were children from I think 8 different wards there today.

We all met in the chapel and had a short program, then the children from one ward at a time were dismissed to the Baptismal font room. Sometimes this was only one child, others a couple of them. Our ward was last, so we remained in the chapel where a video was presented about the Saviour. As it began, an elderly man in a suit was shown walking into a building, then overlooking the land of Jerusalem. As he turned around and faced the camera, I was immediately overcome with emotion, and basically lost it for several minutes. Who was the elderly gentleman? He was our former Prophet who passed away about a year ago. See my blog entry about it here.

Finally it was our turn to go into the room for the baptism. There was one other child from our ward there with us, and since she was a girl, the Bishop had them go first. The cool thing about this one was that the person baptizing her joined the church only a few years ago, and has since progressed and received the appropriate Priesthood authority to perform this sacred ordinance.

When they were finished, I took the Bear through the side door that gave us access to the font. He immediately became scared again. I stepped down into the font, but he stayed at the top and was crying. I went back up (3 steps) and gave him a long hug. The Bishop was standing right behind him offering soothing and comforting words.

Then we descended the stairs together and he was fine. We had practised several times so he knew what was going to happen. We got our hands and everything situated, and then I baptized him. He did get a little tense under the water, but he was fine after that. He kept saying things like, "I did it!", "and are you so proud of me?" Yes we were so proud of him. We knew that it was scary for him, but he did it anyway. He was a good little trooper.

He also commented that the water was a little cold. It was warm when the font was filled, but by the time it was our turn, it had cooled off a bit.

Then we went and changed back into our nice clothes. We apparently were taking too long, because a couple different people were dispatched to tell us to get a move on.

Once we were ready, we went back out, and I was able to confirm him a member of the church. This consists of a group of priesthood holders surrounding the newly baptized person, laying hands on their head (I placed my right hand on his head, then all of the others placed their right hand atop mine. Our left hands rested on the right shoulder of the person to our left), and the priesthood holder acting as voice does three things: 1) confirms them a member of the church, 2) directs them to receive the Holy Ghost, and 3) Pronounces a blessing as directed by the Spirit of the Lord.

This for me was a very sacred privilege. This was the third baptism I have performed, and the second confirmation. The first baptism was on my mission and was a young man that we taught. The second was my son James 7 years ago. I was also privileged to confirm him.

One of the most amazing things in all this is that the pronounced blessing is not planned out. Of course in the days leading up to the event, it is proper to ponder on what might be said, and sometimes inspiration comes then that will guide your blessing. As I pronounced the Bear's blessing today, I had thought about it some, but did not have any prepared text to say. I let the words come through inspiration, and many of the words I said, I hadn't even thought about. I was able to tell him some very special things, and at times was overcome with emotion. My dad stood to my right, and when I was choked up, he gently squeezed my shoulder.

By the end of the confirmation, I had tears running down my face, and as the group broke apart, I saw that many people in the room did too. I must tell you that the Bear is one special little kid, and I am privileged to be his dad.

Afterwards, I had a private moment with my dad in which both of us were teared up. He told me he was proud of me. That meant a lot. I told him that I learned from the best. And I did. My dad has been a shining example to me his whole life. I want to be like my dad. I only hope that someday the Bear will be able to say the same about me. I feel I have a long way to go to earn that.

We all went over to dad's house and had lunch. It was a very special day for all of us.

The Ward Party and The Latest on My Article

Last night we held our "Country Fair" party for our ward. We were in charge of it again, but this time DramaMama delegated a lot of the responsibilities to the different auxiliaries, and it was much easier.

Toward the end of setup before the party began, we had a minor trauma... we were about to fill the two 5 gallon jugs with ice water, when the water in the building turned off. A few phone calls, and some scrambling later, and once again the water came on and we were able to finish in plenty of time. The Bishop was outside working with the water shut-off, while on the cell phone to the Elder's Quorum President in the kitchen. Bishop fiddled with it until it came on.

Once we got going, the party pretty much ran itself. There was little maintenance needed other than keeping the food stocked. DrummerBoy and some of his friends provided the music for the evening, and they sounded fantastic. By the end of the night after having set up and taken down about 20 tables, and a hundred or so chairs, I felt like an old man. As part of the fair, we had displays for crafts, quilts, art, etc. I set up several of my drawings, a couple photos I took years ago, and the sheet music to 3 songs I wrote.

At one point, I stopped the Bishop and thanked him for helping get the water back on. As we were parting, he stopped me. "Brother Hanks, I got a call from Salt Lake."

"Uh-oh," I said, not knowing for sure where he was going with this.

He continued and told me that the call came from the editing department of the Ensign. He said the conversation went something like this:

"Do you know a Brother Hanks?"

"Yes I do."

"We just wanted to verify that he was in your ward, because we are preparing to publish his article in an upcoming issue."

...

Bishop said that it should be within 2 or 3 issues. When I received the original notification that they wanted to use my article, they said that there would need to be an editing process where they would edit my article, and sent it back to me for my revisions, etc until we came to an agreement of the final text. It does need an editing pass or two. Of all the things I have ever submitted, this one had the least polishing done to it. All in all it is pretty sound, but after re-reading it, I saw a few things I would change.

So there we are... it won't be long and I will finally be able to say that I have been published.


[UPDATE]
I received an email yesterday (12/3/08) with the edited copy, and a note stating that my article is slated for publication in the August 2009 issue.

I am going through the copy and doing some editing myself. I have until mid-January to get the revised version back to them.

It Was Worth It

This election was huge on several fronts. The presidential race of course was high on the list, but Arizona and California both had propositions on the ballot to protect the definition of marriage. (Arizona Prop 102 http://yesformarriage.com/ and California Prop 8).

I am happy to say that both passed. In Arizona, I was heavily involved in the mailing lists and phone lists for Prop 102, while in California, my oldest brother Keith who is a city councilman in Azusa worked hard on Prop 8. Here is a youtube video of him in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH_AWZ8mCwI

Although I spent long hours working on this, and many of them uncompensated, I find that it was all worth it to see that this important issue got the attention it needed to get passed.

It does my heart good to see people stand up for what is right, not for what is popular.

The Bears Surgery Day

Today, the Bear finally had his surgery to lengthen the tendons at the back of his legs so he will be able to walk flat footed more easily.

We woke up about three minutes after we went to sleep. At least it felt like that. We had to get up at 4:00 to meet the 5:30 arrival time at St. Joseph's hospital.

Kayden had his Pooh Bear to keep him company.

DramaMama has more pictures and tells the story well.

I took along my "Man Bag" which contains all my writing gunk. You can see me in the pictures with my clipboard making notes for the end of my latest book writing project.

The Military Honor Night

Last night was the evening that DramaMama planned to honor servicemen from the past and present. This was inspired by a man from our ward (Brother Vincent) getting notice that he is going to be deployed to Afganistan. He will be leaving this Tuesday.

We have been gathering photos and stories from members of our ward, and I took 2 days and put together a video that showed the pictures and told their stories.

The night came off extremely well. DramaMama was stressed out of her mind worrying that it would be a failure, but as usual, she pulled off an amazing evening.

We had the old pictures set out on a table, and one of the men (Brother Boushley) brought some memorabilia from his days on a submarine. We had posters from the different branches of the military. My favorite had an aircraft carrier on it with the words "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of anyone that threatens it."

We had the Boy Scouts do a flag ceremony and the Pledge of Allegiance. Then a young girl, whose father served in the Navy, sang The Star Spangled Banner. Then we had the dinner which consisted of fried chicken, baked beans, potato salad, and rolls. After dinner, we had another musical number by three young girls. They sang God Bless the USA. Then we had a man from the ward who had served in the British armed forces speak about patriotism. THen we showed the video.

The video started out with a sign reading "The Brimhall Ward honors those who have served and are serving in the armed services."

Following that, we had this quote from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."


Then we went through the photos. The ending was rather poignant. Erica chose 3 songs: He's a Hero, Where Stars and Stripes and Eagles Fly, and American Soldier by Toby Keith. At the end, we had all of the pictures that Brother Vincent had given us. One of which was of him kneeling at a grave with his head bowed. It was a touching image. He also supplied a poster of a kneeling soldier with a message and a scripture. I made a transition between his picture and the poster. With the words of American Soldier over this, it was hard to hold back the emotion.

After the poster, the music faded out, and another sign appeared:

"Please join with us in a moment of silence to honor those who fought bravely and gave their lives to ensure our freedom." After that it ended with "Thank you from the members of the Brimhall Ward."

Once the lights came up, we could see that several people were wiping tears. Everyone stood up and applauded. Not for the video, but for those present who were in it. It was all very touching. Many people came up to me later, with looks on their faces that I had never seen before. They were truly grateful to be honored like that. They thanked me over and over for doing the video. Many people asked for a copy. I discovered that I made a couple errors, so I need to patch it up, then I will make copies for everyone. I will try to put up a link to it once we get it fixed up a bit. After it was over, several people in attendance let us know that they also had served. We didn't know. So after we get them in, fluff up some of the stories, add more pictures, etc.

It was rather sobering making the video, and seeing all of the people who served, some of whom died. We heard some neat stories. Brother Boushley told us that his sub had the distinction of firing the first guided missle launched from a sub. Another one was of a linguist who listened in on Russian conversations in Cuba, who accidentally pushed a wrong button and shutdown a major operation. It went clear back up to the Joint Chiefs. One man served in Patton's 3rd Army, another served as a personal aide to the Joint Chief of Staff of the Army.

My favorite of the stories though was of a group of 6 brothers that all served in World War 2. Before each of them left, their father laid his hands on their head and gave them a father's blessing. All 6 of the brothers returned home unharmed. I will admit that when DramaMama told me that one over the phone that it choked me up good.

It was a fantastic evening, and DramaMama did herself proud. Today at church, several people mentioned it. Good job honey.

Time is an Enigma - the James Saga

Once a year, my son James comes to visit for a month in the summer. All too soon, I find myself back in the airport with him watching him fly away back home.

This year was no exception. July simply vanished. Granted, we did manage more one-on-one time than previous years, but still...

I did some figuring the other day. The actual amount of time that I have had James with me is still less than 3 years, and he is now 14.

This time, he told us that he wished he could stay here with us for 6 months, then stay 6 months with his mom. I wish that too, but it is very unlikely that this will ever happen.

Over a month ago, I filled out paperwork to have this past week off of work so that all-told, I would be able to spend 9 days with him before he left. 2 weeks before my time off, I scheduled a day for the Bear's surgery. That was cancelled but I tool the day anyway to spend with James. Half-way through the day, I got a call from my boss asking why I wasn't at work. I told him that I put in for that day a month earlier. I asked if he was aware of my week off... no, he wasn't.

They held a meeting at work with the full sales team to see what projects were coming so they could figure out if I could have my days. That was on Monday, and they decided in there, that I could have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and then the next Monday and Tuesday. Well, okay... still 5 days, but not surround by weekends for the full 9.

It played out that I still ended up going in on Wednesday and Thursday. I managed Friday off, but had to go in for half the day on Monday. Tuesday they left me alone. So out of the original 9 days planned, I only got 4, and 2 of those were the weekend. I was/am pretty bugged about that. Also, the main reason they said I need to be there for Wednesday through Friday never happened.

Friday night, we went to Broadway Palm with him and the Bear, then very early Saturday, I drove him to the airport to see him off. I really hate that part. When he was 2 and I would leave him and fly away, I would often fight back emotion. Now watching him fly away, it isn't a whole lot easier. WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

Money issues on this trip kiboshed several things I had planned to do. Our transmission on the van croaked on July 4th. It is finally fixed, and now we have to wait for payday before we can go get it. We did have a coupon for "Real Bowling" as the Bear calls it (Not Wii bowling). We only had to pay for shoes.

While James was here, I transcribed a few of the songs I wrote years ago. One of them was the song I wrote for his mom and played for her at our reception. Another was the one I wrote for DramaMama and played at OUR reception. He set about learning those and some other songs that I have played over the years. He is really quite talented. He drew a picture of the Bear as a baby that was pretty impressive.

Delta threw us a curve-ball on James' flight down here. Because he was under 15, they charged his mom $100. Southwest let him fly alone after he was 12. So to circumvent this stupid fee that we couldn't afford, we celebrated James' 15th birthday a bit early. I take full credit for the lie to Delta Airlines, I have already confessed to God, I have accepted my punishment of 40 lashes with a wet noodle. I figure since James has been travbelling alone on Southwest since he was 12, he didn't need a baby-sitter. The $100 fee would have been a big waste of money.

My Niece's Wedding, Golf and Goofiness

Yesterday, my niece got married. In the morning all the men went on a golf outing at the Royal Palms golf course here in Mesa. Each hole had its own competition, and we all had to toss $1 into the pot for each of them.

The first hole had a small pond or a really big puddle, whichever... so the first competition was biggest splash in the pond. The golf course donated the golf balls for that one. Now picture this... I stand atop the tee box (on a hill mind you) and take a mighty swing with my pitching wedge. The ball didn't so much fly as roll. It went down the hill and out of sight near the water's edge. It is questionable if it even got wet. I didn't win the competition.

After that we played the hole. If you recall my golf post for last year, I am no Bobcat Woods or whatever they call him. :) I teed off and.... holy crap! it was a good hit! My brother Ken who has always been a good golfer teed off and it was of course a good hit, right in the middle of the fairway. It turned out that even though mine was out in the rough, that it went farther. I then proceeded to make a nice chip shot followed by a good approach putt and a little shorty putt to par the hole. Astounding!

Then the second hole. Closest to the pin. I think mine landed in Australia.

Third hole was the longest tee shot. I figured that I had used up my good tee shot on the first hole, but I got up there, recalled my lessons at the hand of a pro, and swung. It felt good... and it looked good. In the distance, we could see the litlle white bag that held the $1 pot contributions. My ball was close to it. As we approached, it turned out that my ball had beat it by about a yard. Disbelief washed over me, as I claimed the prize for the longest drive.

Other competitions included shortest drive (won by my son James aka the Bug... about 5 feet.), longest putt, fewest strokes (my dad won that one), most strokes (James almost won that, but was beat out at the last minute). The last hole was designated as "Nick Wins". Nick was the groom. The rule was that the winner of the last hole takes all of the pots from the previous holes. The idea being that we gave Nick and Aubrey some money to play with on their honeymoon.

It was pretty hot even though we started a bit after 8:00 am. We had a good time though. My brother Mike and his family were here from Florida. I didn't know they were coming, so I was pleasantly surprised when he walked up and said hello at the golf course.

After golf, we went home and picked up the Bear, and the golf group went to IHOP and were treated to breakfast by my brother Ken, who is the bride's father. The Bear ordered the big huge pancake that has two strawberries for eyes, and banana slices that form a smile. James "cut it up" for him, but sort of massacred it. It looked like Freddy Krueger did it. :)

The wedding began at 6:30pm at a place called the Wright House. The wedding was outside, but in the shade and covered by big fans. The wedding commenced with the traditional walks up the aisle. Over the speakers came the song "Butterfly Kisses". As it got to the part about losing his baby tonight or whatever it says, that was when Ken was walking Aubrey. It got him, and his face crinkled up and went red. That of course got everyone else too.

The ceremony was very nice, and once photos were taken, the reception got underway. They had fabulous shake that was french vanilla flavored... auughhghhghgh french vanilla (Homer Simpson style). The wedding cake was not so traditional. It had a couple tiers as usual, then a few tiers of cupcakes.

As part of the reception, there was music playing, so we took advantage of it. Here are a couple shot of me and DramaMama cutting a rug:

"Will You Still Call Me Superman?"

And here are several other candid shots from the evening:

Me playing the part of Samson and bringing down the wedding place

Our part of the wedding cake.

Jamesie G

YEAH BAYBEE!

After the wedding, we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We had an "un-birthday" for James. Here he is on the saddle while the whole place gave a big YEEHAW for him.

Beware the Soul-Sucking Fiends

Over the past few weeks, there has been very little of a smile upon my face. I haven't felt happy inside. I'm not sure what the deal is, but I don't really feel like smiling much. DramaMama says she feels a lot the same way.

I have a 9-day vacation coming up toward the end of July, and am very much looking forward to it. My son from Utah will be arriving here on Tuesday, and will be here for the entire month. The last week of his stay I am scheduling off from work to spend mostly with him.

I think a nice long break from work will do a lot for me. I don't think what I am feeling is so much burnout as lack of time for me. DramaMama is going through a bout with everyone sucking the life out of her, and not getting anything back from them. She has neighbors, family, children, and a husband that always turn to her, because she is the go to girl. It isn't fair in any way, shape or form, because she turns into a puddle of goo and feels horrible, yet people still are trying to boost their own energy with whatever she has left.

I think both of us are at a point where we need a break from everyone and everything just to have alone time, together and by ourselves to recharge our batteries. I have a similar problem as she does, but it comes from work mostly. Most days are comprised of people coming to me to do things. Usually they are things that nobody else knows how to do, so I get them. A lot of days are filled with interruptions which gets frustrating. Sometimes I just want to stand on my desk and yell "SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The Bear comes with soul-sucking vacuum attachments and knows how to use them. He is very high maintenance, and is a constant drain. He is a great kid, and we love him very much, but there are times when he is almost too much for us to deal with.

After a day of being soul-sucked at work, the last thing I want to hear is "Daddy, I want to go to the big park" or "Daddy come play Wii with me." I want to come home, crawl in a hole, and hide.
On the days where I feel like that, if I get about 45 minutes to an hour of me-time, I seem to do better. I know that sounds a bit heartless, but a lot of times it is true.

Oh... and I hurt my back again yesterday. GRRRRR.

Uh.... Come Again?

There are things in life that just don't make sense to my brain. We came across one of those this past week.

A couple months ago DramaMama had an alarm system installed in our house. We got the system free on a promotion, and all we pay is the monthly fee. Last week Drummer Boy accidently pushed the panic button on the remote to the alarm system. Soon the police were at our house checking it out to make sure that there really werent intruders.

A little bit after that we were notified that we weren't licensed to have a security system in our home.

HUH?

You have to have a LICENSE to protect your home and family with an alarm system? I don't know about you, but that is completely ludicrous to me.

So anyway, we have to fill out a form and send in $10 to become licensed to not die in a home invasion.

When Life Slaps You in the Face

This morning I wasn't feeling too good, so at about 5:45am I camped out in the bathroom for awhile. After that I went upstairs with the intention of doing a little work before heading to my job. I got into my email and found one from my brother Ken which changed all that.

Last night Ken and his wife Jean were driving down from Show Low to have dinner with their two daughters. Somewhere between there and Payson the roads were slushy. They had rain and sleet and snow and sleet off and on, in one spot they hit some ice and lost control, and ended up rolling twice.

My brother came out of it rather battered, but able to get out. They had to use the jaws of life to get Jean out. She didn't fare so well. They rolled in her direction, so she took the worst of it. We figure her right arm must have gotten pinned between her and the arm rest. She ended up with a compound fracture and inch or so below the elbow, both bones broken above the wrist with another piece broken off, and several cracks in her wrist and hand. On her left arm, the lobes of on of the humurous bone were sheared off. She had a chip broken out of her hip, and she smacked the back of her head pretty hard. She says she remembers the first roll, but that is all.

She had surgery this afternoon to put her right arm back together. The doctor said he wasn't even sure how they were going to do it because there were 7 sections of bone to put back together. There was a possibility that they would work on the other arm, but they said they would probably schedule a second surgery for that. We haven't heard how the surgery went yet.

DramaMama and I went over to the hospital around 10:30 and stayed for a couple hours. Ken was in pretty good spirits, and Jean was awake and talking to us.

Jean does stained glass with their own business, and had several pieces in the back of the Yukon. They got obliterated, and all of the windows in the vehicle were gone. You would think with all of that glass that they would have been sliced up, but neither of them got cut.

Apparently, they had just gotten car insurance re-instated. In fact, Ken said that about 20 minutes before the accident, their agent called and said they were covered again. Where they were, they had very limited cell service, so he called the agent and was able to say they rolled, Jean was hurt, and the call dropped. Once Ken got into Payson, after they life flighted Jean to Scottsdale, he was able to talk to the agent and get it all squared away.

THEN... Ken had to rent a car and drive for an hour and a half to get to the hospital where they took Jean. I personally think that would have sucked big time.

So all in all, they came out of it fairly well considering. The Yukon was destroyed, but it held is shape and protected them.

Oh... and it was Ken's birthday.

Biggest Loser Week 7

This week the troupe in on the road, so we aren't having an official weigh in. This of course, is because I lost 75 lbs, and nobody wants to glory in my victory!

Okay, I didn't lose 75 lbs. But I know I lost something. I can see my face thinning out.

Our scale at home is, shall we say, CRAP! It weighs different everytime, and rarely in my favor.

So next Sunday, we will be back on track, and everybody will hopefully get a big woo hoo!

oh... and my dad is get married again. :)

The Biggest Loser - Week 6

Well, little "trophy" has come my way once more. DramaMama was smokin' this week, and we felt that she was a shoe-in to win. But alas... I did.

As a group we have lost the equivelant of at least two of our kids. I have lost 20.5 lbs, and DramaMama has lost 16. She is looking really good. I can see a big difference in her, but not so much with myself.

My weigh in last week was a bit of a downer. I GAINED 3 pounds. I figured I would be even, but nope, I gained. I had a rough week being good though. I succumbed to brownies, a cookie, some french fries. I was so naughty, and the fat fairy punished me. As my dad now says (after dropping 125 lbs himself) "I am allergic to desserts, they make me break out in fat!"

I really wanted DramaMama to win, so even though I won, I was a bit bummed.

Biggest Loser Week 3

Hmmmm.... Week 1 seems to have been my shining moment. I think all of that was water weight, and now I am actually losing fat.

This week I lost 1.5 pounds. This brings me to a running total of 15 pounds and over all inch reduction of 5-1/2. I was hoping for more, but there you are.

I had a really crappy week. I think anger weighs 5 pounds.

My other neice won this time. I'm hoping that DramaMama gets the trophy one of these weeks. We have been eating very sensibly, and have reduced our caloric intake by a significant amount.
She is working very hard. She has boosted her mall walking to include stairs.

The Biggest Loser - Week 2

Last week in our family weight loss contest, I creamed the competition by dropping 12 pounds. When I saw the number, I also dropped my jaw.

This week was quite a bit more reasonable. I lost 1.5 pounds. The Biggest Loser award went to my niece this time.

I thought I had lost more than that, because I have begun to notice changes. My face has thinned, as have my arms and legs. I did lose 1.5 inches over my various measurements, so that is something.

Odd Directions and A New Brand of Superhero

This post has to do with funny things I heard this week:

1) "Sit down on your bum and be a lady!"


2) While playing a game with the Bear, he collected a protective shield for his player. "I'm SHIELDO THE KID!"

2006 on a Ritz - Our Christmas Letter

This year the letter duty has fallen to me. Our normal pattern is to comfortably wait until after Christmas then send an email. So please note that this was at least typed before Christmas this year. Whether or not you are reading it before Christmas is another thing. This has been an interesting year with several milestones and a few kidney stones. I suppose we’ll start out with me as I am the one writing this:

Dave
I am still working as a programmer/web designer/printing setup guy/database guru/video guy/audio guy/a lotta other stuff guy. I have had my hands in many varied projects which has forced/allowed me to expand my skill-base and knowledge of my industry.

My business is still running under Dad’s capable hands. He has really earned his dollar this year. I developed our own shopping cart system which will allow us to customize the heck out of it. This not only saves us money, but gives us a lot more flexibility with our promotions.

I have been writing a lot, focusing my time on two different books. One of them has been completed in first draft, and is currently undergoing a rather sweeping revision. I have had a few test readers, all of which loved it. I have a goal to finish this draft in the coming month, then do another revision to smooth it out and expand it further. As it sits now, it tells the complete story, but it is about half as long as it should be to hold its own as a novel. My second book, which I think is even better, is around 2/3 of the way done in first draft.

I have been sick for the bulk of the last 3 months. I started out with a very nasty case of Bronchitis which left me with a dry hacky cough. I went back to the doctor for that, and was told that it was just part of the recovery. Two months went by with nightly coughing fits. I finally went back in and had a chest x-ray done, and was told I have pneumonia. They also said that I have an enlarged heart. I am still waiting for my doctor to hook me up with the cardiologist.

Erica
Erica has been the queen of everything this year. She started her own scrapbooking business which works a lot like a tupperware party, but more fun. She invites the women-folk from my family, and a few others sprinkled in. Erica demonstrates the latest nifty gee-whizzies, everyone oohs and ahhhs, and then buys stuff.

Several people have come to her in a panic, wanting to do a scrapbook for Christmas, but feeling overwhelmed. Erica stepped right in and either helped them, or did the work herself.

The ward has made good use of her as well. She has been working very hard in the Relief Society in the Enrichment committee until she was released recently. This demanded a lot of her time and energy. She is also a weekly episode for the nursery and sharing time crowds. In sharing time she is “Sister Spotlight”. She dons an apron with colored spots on it, takes a flashlight, and does a spotlight on one of the kids. She is a hit. She also is the singing lady for the nursery kids. She has immortalized the “Slippery Fish” song.

I know that she is overwhelmed most of the time with her many activities and pressures. I want all of you to know that she is a wonderful wife and mother who we all love very much, even though our housekeeping skills don’t show it. She puts up with a lot and gives of herself almost to her bounds. She is a friend to everyone, and everyone loves her.

Clinton
Clinton has been banging on the drums about 80% of the year. He has been in Marching band, Concert Band, Drumline, district band, and several other things. He is very impressive, and is a standout in his various groups.

He turned 16 this year which means the onset of many things. He earned his drivers license, went on his first date, and started high school. As always, he gets excellent grades. He took the PSAT and his results showed that if this had been the SAT, he would have scored 1600 on it. A quick Google on colleges/universities that would accept him with that mark showed that he could pretty much name his school.

He and I have enjoyed trying our own mini versions of some of the Mythbusters tests. I am happy to say that much fun was had with no injuries.

James
James began Jr. High this year and has also taken up the drums. This makes the third instrument he has attempted. He has taken piano lessons for several years, and has been learning guitar.

We enjoyed a month in the summer and short visit for Thanksgiving with him this year. We plan to see him after Christmas as well.

James will turn 13 in February. He is a great kid, and we miss him very much. Kayden talks about “Jamesie” all the time, and even sleeps on his bed.

Kayden
Kayden started Elementary school this year. So if you are keeping track, we had a child start high school, one start Jr. High, and one start elementary school. Kayden is a fun-loving boy who loves everyone, and they love him back.

This year some progress has been made on his conditions, but still no diagnoses. He has been wearing leg braces for quite awhile. We call them his “legs”. These help keep his foot flat to the ground and prevent him from walking on his toes. He also underwent surgery recently for a muscle biopsy that will hopefully shed some light on the problems. He just had a botox injection each of his calf muscles with the intent of paralyzing the muscle that makes him walk on his toes.

As always, he is a little computer buff, always wanting to play a game with me. His “Moo” can be heard throughout the day as he plays various games.

Kayden is a sweet little guy, and we love him to pieces. He won’t eat anything though. It is a battle every evening to get him to eat. If he had his druthers, he’d have a gallon of root beer and candy.

We got to be bell ringers for the Salvation Army a few weeks ago, so I put Kayden on my shoulders doing our version of Bob Cratchet and Tiny Tim. We also let him stand by the pail by himself ringing the bell. He got lots of smiles and donations.

Overall things have seemed hectic, but we are all alive, and we even smile sometimes.

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, and take some time to reflect on the things that matter most. It isn’t about the presents, it isn’t about the decorations. It is about a baby born in less than ideal conditions that grew to change the world and eternity for all of us. God bless us every one.

Dave (CheezWeezil), Erica (DramaMama), Clinton(The Large Drummer Boy), James (The Bug/Smaller Drummer Boy), and Kayden (The Bear).

Ding Dong

Today, DramaMama, the Bear and I were bell ringers for the Salvation Army at a local Wal-Mart.

It was kind of fun actuall, even though the Bear kept cloking me in the head with the bell. (He was sitting on my shoulders.)

We had a sort of Christmas Carol theme going. The Bear was on my shoulders wearing his leg braces playing the part of Tiny Tim, while I wore my t-Shirt that reads "I've got your 'Bah Humbug' Right Here!"

At one point, we put the apron on the Bear, and set him out there ringing the bell by himself. We were of course only feet away. He got a lot of smiles and donations.

Tomorrow, DramaMama and I will be working a Christmas Tree lot as a fundraiser for our band boosters.

Cookies and Cheez and the Bear, oh MY!

Every year, my family has "Cookie Train" day, where all of us gather at my dad's house and make exotic creations from cookies, candy, and icing (acts as the glue).

The first picture here, is actually from Thanksgiving day. Behind me there were three people with guitars, only one of which could really play.

I was plinking around on the piano, when my sister and her camera approached. Being the odd-duck I am, I quickly spotted a kleenex laying on the piano. I rolled it up and stuck it in my mouth.

Notice the Jesus statue on top of the piano. A close look will reveal that it is missing the right hand. Well, that happens on moves. Even closer observation will reveal a mysterious blue hat on Jesus's head. "Why is Jesus wearing a blue hat?" I asked. The explanation was that the broken off hand was wrapped up in blue tape and stuck to his head. I thought that was an odd place to stick it, but there you are.

So, anyway, on to cookie trains. The Bear and I decided to work together on his project. He helped for about the duration of this next photo.

I decided to be innovative this year, and made a snowman out of marshmallows, and a North Pole sign. Part of the fun of the cookie train build is all of the creative things people come up with. Another is eating all of the building materials that didn't get used. Needless to say, I ate a crapload of crap, which is why I look like a wide-body jet.

By the way, if you are trying to figure out what my shirt says, I'll tell you.

"Church Basketball... the brawl that begins with prayer." Having played in many a church basketball game, this shirt spoke truth to my soul, and I had to own it. ;)

Some of the funny things that emerged from this year's event were a melted snowman, and a gingerbread man strapped to railroad tracks in front of the oncoming cookie train while the gingerbread wife looked on. That one also had a pooping snowman (round white candy). Quite lovely.

The Bear and his cousins played the entire duration, and had a good old time. At one point they were in the back yard making "Magic Potions". These turned out to be red plastic cups with water from the bathroom mixed with dirt, rocks, and grass from Dad's yard. I overheard a discussion about whose potion had the most rocks in it. Gotta love kids.

The Bear was so excited that his cousins were driving down from Utah to be with us for Thanksgiving. Here he is with one of them.

Next we visit the same two really getting into their work.

Mischief and Mayhem at the Weezil Compound

Tonight we hosted our family Halloween party. It was a great success with such fun things as the bubbling witch cauldron of root beer to the stick-to-the-wall gooey things that are now stuck to our ceiling, courtesy of DrummerBoy.

Among our activities was the Mummy Wrap game where the kids had to wrap their daddy in toilet paper like a mummy. We have photos, but they aren't downloaded yet. It was fun, but the TP kept breaking.

We had an excess of dry ice, so as you can imagine that all the boys in the house, fresh from a great episode of Mythbusters, set to trying the 2-liter bottle dry ice blooey. Three unsuccessful attempts were made before the dry ice ran out. We decided that the dry ice had lost its punch because it had been sitting out most of the evening. A short drive to the grocery store replenished the supply and mayhem ensued.

With DrummerBoy as the point-man and me as the giddy chaperone, we proceeded to do the thing up right. We recalled how Jamie from Mythbusters had carefully cut his dry ice into long strips, we set out to duplicate this. I sawed out several pieces and loaded the baby up. After about 20 minutes with no big bang, I was getting annoyed. There was plenty of fuel this time.

We gathered in one of the first attempts and discovered that the bottle was rock hard from the pressure. Since it hadn't blown on its own, we decided to give it a little help. One big toss into the sky onto asphalt later and the bottle kersploded. We both ran inside giggling like school girls.

"Did you leave it out there?" I said.

"It was gone... I found the label though."

"Go see if you can find any pieces from it."

A minute or so later he came back in. "I think it went in the neighbor's yard. She was pretty mad."

I came up here to do this post, and was about to the second paragraph went I heard a BOOM. I charged downstairs to hear DrummerBoy and DramaMama laughing heartily. The way it sounded, I thought it had gone off in the house.

This time he used a bottled water bottle. We found the wrapper from that too. So far no sirens.

I was originally going to blog about "Whistles for kids at parties are the Devil", but this won out.

By the way, the last bottle we tried is so bloated and hard that it is going to be a dandy when it hits the pavement. We are saving it for tomorrow so the neighbor that got the first one doesn't get too mad. We'll wake her up with it. Tee Hee.

Trunk-or-Treat

This evening we attended the annual "Trunk-or-Treat". What's that you ask? In our church, to help promote safe Halloween candy gathering, a night is set aside where all the families gather in the parking lot of the church with decorated car trunks. The cars are parked side by side to make "trunk-or-treating" move quickly. Our car was themed after Hitchcock's "The Birds"... It had bird crap all over it. They also have a few games and dinner.

DramaMama made the "Ghost Chili" from the recipe on Domestic Goddess's blog. It is most excellent.

As tonight was also Drummer Boy's first official date (Homecoming), DramaMama was the one in charge of decorating him in his tux, and getting the "before" shots. She missed most of the Trunk-or-Treat, but did arrive in time to chat with several friends.

I was in charge of the Bear and his friend from school. The Bear was Batman, and his friend was Spider Man. They met up with another friend of the Bear's who was Superman. DramaMama got a picture of the three of them. It may show up here (or on her blog) later.

The first order of business was the dinner which consisted of about 20 selections of chili, and 3 or 4 selections of cornbread. I of course had the ghost chili. I was helping the boys get their food, and carrying their treat buckets. I wasn't paying attention to the level of my own bowl, and accidentally "ghosted" Spiderman's mask and gloves which were in his purple pumpkin candy bucket.

The Bear had a bucket that was Elmo's head. So Batman is gathering candy in an Elmo bucket. Interesting. "Elmo loves the caped crusader!"

With all of the political stuff going on, I was called into work today. I have a great t-shirt for such occasions. It reads: "Let me drop everything and work on your problem." I am so tired, both physically and mentally. This shirt expresses my feelings perfectly. I decided that it would serve well as my costume for this evening as well. I went as an over-worked computer guy.

One of the activities there was a dunk tank. The Bear really enjoyed that. He even hit the target and dunked the guy.

So, even though this has been a horrendous week on pretty much all fronts, I had an enjoyable time this evening.