I'm kind of liking this missionary week. With the TV off, my boys and I have played basketball, pool, worked in the yard, and just had a good time. On Wednesday Nicole made us this killer pasta dinner, and Logan and Hunter and I ate an entire pan. Then Diane and Tamara came in from Phonix to stay over at our house while traveling back up to Canada. Amber and Mitch called and their car broke down 100 miles outside of Austin on Tuesday night, so they had to get towed to Austin. It sounds like it's a cracked block or radiator, so I think it may be a bit of money. Amber was good about it though, even though it was the day before they left to Cancun. She said, "Well, now I guess I know what it's like to be a grown-up!" Hunter and I played pool and basketball, and Hunter beat me at both.
Thursday was a great day. I woke up, rode my bike with Kerry for 26 miles, worked, came home and talked with the neighbors and weeded the yard. The sun was out, it was beautiful, and I was nice to everyone! Life is good.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
April 22nd through 26th, 2011 - 133rd through 137th Days
What a weekend! All my family got here either late Thursday, or on Friday. Kerry and I went to work and no one had called in for the first three hours, so we closed up shop! We decided it wasn't good to work on "Good Friday", so we spent the day with the family. Friday night we all got together at the park with the Huntsmans and we decided to play a touch football game. We divided up the teams by putting all the people 20 years and older on one team, and all those 20 years and younger on the other team. I quickly found out that people under 20 are much faster and in better shape than those of us 40 and older! Imagine that! I was gassing like a dog, and all the tweenieboppers were not even breathing hard. It didn't help that they convinced us they needed to have Mitch's dad be their quarterback. We relented and agreed. The problem? Mitch's dad was a collegiate quarterback and picked us apart all day. We had a bunch of 40 somethings trying to throw the ball downfield farther than their abilities allowed. So, two things happened. First, our passes looked like drunk, wobbling ducks, and we were intercepted about 500 times. All-in-all, we didn't do too bad, however, and we scored 21 points to their 35, so at least it was respectable. I think Kerry and I are going to stick to bike riding and let the tweenieboppers run the football field in the future, however. Friday night all the teens and post teens got together at Kerrys and talked until the wee hours, so I'm glad I was at home not sleeping, rather than over at his house not sleeping.
Saturday we woke up early and went to the temple. The sealing was amazing! We had all of our family and a few close friends in the temple with us. Then, we walked outside and everyone else was waiting for us. Amber looked absolutely beautiful. We then went to the church and had a fantastic luncheon and we got to say a few words about Amber and Mitch. I started crying before I even began speaking. I am such a mushy gushy. When we were done we had to head over to the reception hall and finish up the final touches. We started taking pictures at 5:30, and by the time we were done there were already people at 6:45 lining up. We stood in line and greeted people for a straight 2 1/2 hours. My feet were so tired they felt like noodles, but it was great to feel of all the love and support from friends. At the end, I got to have the daddy/daughter dance with Amber and we laughed the entire time. The song was about 45 minutes long, or so it seemed, so once my legs fell off, we ended the dance. I think I was supposed to cry, and not laugh, but Amber and I are a little different. We definitely laugh more than we cry, so why should it be any different when we're dancing? By the time we finished the reception it was about 10:00 and then my entire family came back and helped us clean up! It was so nice to not have to do it by ourselves. We were completely done and out of the hall by 10:45! WOW, what a day! That was one of the best days of my life.
On Sunday we started our youth missionary day. We challenged the youth to live like missionaries for an entire week. No cell phones, TV, music, etc. They are to be home by 9:00, in bed by 10:30, and up by 6:30. They need to do 30 minutes of exercise, write in their journals, and say morning and night time prayers. They also were called to a mission (like Russia, Cost Rica, etc). They were challenged to learn as much as they could about the mission, and report to their families. Should be a fun week. We'll see. I agreed to do it with them.
Monday and Tuesday were same-o-same-o. I already get up at 6:30, so Kerry and I got up and rode for 21 miles and then when I came home from work Hunter told us about his mission (Chicago), and Logan told us about his (Russia). We then had a great Family Home Evening. On Tuesday we were again up early and Kerry and I again rode 20 miles and half way through the day we went up to see Logan and Hunter play soccer in Cedar. The varsity actually lost to Canyon View, which is akin to losing to a team of 4th graders. It was quite humiliating. Oh well, afterwards we got to eat waffles at IHOP, it doesn't get much better than that.
Here are a few early pictures of the wedding:
Saturday we woke up early and went to the temple. The sealing was amazing! We had all of our family and a few close friends in the temple with us. Then, we walked outside and everyone else was waiting for us. Amber looked absolutely beautiful. We then went to the church and had a fantastic luncheon and we got to say a few words about Amber and Mitch. I started crying before I even began speaking. I am such a mushy gushy. When we were done we had to head over to the reception hall and finish up the final touches. We started taking pictures at 5:30, and by the time we were done there were already people at 6:45 lining up. We stood in line and greeted people for a straight 2 1/2 hours. My feet were so tired they felt like noodles, but it was great to feel of all the love and support from friends. At the end, I got to have the daddy/daughter dance with Amber and we laughed the entire time. The song was about 45 minutes long, or so it seemed, so once my legs fell off, we ended the dance. I think I was supposed to cry, and not laugh, but Amber and I are a little different. We definitely laugh more than we cry, so why should it be any different when we're dancing? By the time we finished the reception it was about 10:00 and then my entire family came back and helped us clean up! It was so nice to not have to do it by ourselves. We were completely done and out of the hall by 10:45! WOW, what a day! That was one of the best days of my life.
On Sunday we started our youth missionary day. We challenged the youth to live like missionaries for an entire week. No cell phones, TV, music, etc. They are to be home by 9:00, in bed by 10:30, and up by 6:30. They need to do 30 minutes of exercise, write in their journals, and say morning and night time prayers. They also were called to a mission (like Russia, Cost Rica, etc). They were challenged to learn as much as they could about the mission, and report to their families. Should be a fun week. We'll see. I agreed to do it with them.
Monday and Tuesday were same-o-same-o. I already get up at 6:30, so Kerry and I got up and rode for 21 miles and then when I came home from work Hunter told us about his mission (Chicago), and Logan told us about his (Russia). We then had a great Family Home Evening. On Tuesday we were again up early and Kerry and I again rode 20 miles and half way through the day we went up to see Logan and Hunter play soccer in Cedar. The varsity actually lost to Canyon View, which is akin to losing to a team of 4th graders. It was quite humiliating. Oh well, afterwards we got to eat waffles at IHOP, it doesn't get much better than that.
Here are a few early pictures of the wedding:
My beautiful wife and handsome sons!
My Gorgeous daughter, Amber.
Our reception hall
Friday, April 22, 2011
April 19th through 21st, 2011 - 130th through 132nd Day
On Tuesday we played Hurricane in soccer and it was a great match. Both teams were doing well, and Logan was having a great game. It was the second overtime, and there was only a few minutes left. We got called for a penalty, and Hurricane got a penalty kick, but it was on the 50, so we didn't worry much about it. The ball boucned high, however, and Logan misjudged it and Hurricane scored. I felt so bad for Logan, he was just devastated. We lost the game 3-2 in double overtime. It's kind of how are season has gone. Logan doesn't normally get down, but he really took this one hard. By Wednesday he had bounced back, but it's hard to be a goalie's parent sometimes. I told him I still think he's the best goalie around.
Wednesday was clean the house and fix the faucet day! I never realized how much junk get clogged in faucets. Logan and Mitch and I were replacing the faucet and I thought Mitch was going to throw up when he saw all the hair/gunk, etc. He had that gag reflex thing going, and I thought he was going to spew all over the floor. I was really tired by the time I got to bed.
Thursday was great. At 3:00 we went over to the barn to decorate for Amber's reception. It was A LOT of hard work, but we had a ton of friends to help. Kerry and Kim, the Macllelans, Bonnie Jones, Sherrie Reeder, Tonya Neilson, Kelly Anderson, Mitch and Amber, Kaylee and her friend Halie, and my two boys, were all helping. We had to clean the chairs, put on the chair covers, put on bows, steam the tablecloths, hang pictures, hang banners, put up spot lights, and do about 1,000 other things. I never knew it was so hard to set up for a reception! However, it looked fantastic! I couldn't believe how nice it looked. We worked from 3:00 to 10:00, and then we all came home exhausted. We finally got to bed at about 1:00 in the morning. At about 4:30, Nicole was restless, so I work up as well (I'm a light sleeper). I said, "Why are you awake at 4:30?" She said, "I'm just so excited! My brain is going, and I can't get back to sleep!" I can honestly say, I don't think this happens to guys! I told her that if she didn't get back to sleep, she was going to crash and burn on Friday, but I still think she stayed up a while. I have to admit, it was exciting to see everything come together. However, it wasn't so exciting that I couldn't sleep. I think the only time I couldn't sleep was after I got my Pinarello, and even then, I think it only cut into about 4 minutes of sleep time. Getting good sleep has never been a problem of mine, I could sleep standing up if there was a pillow attached to the wall. Come to think of it, I could sleep standing up even if there wasn't a pillow attached to the wall!
My family all gets in on Friday. Keith got in last night. Should be an exciting couple of days! Things I learned today: 1st, Mitch is a weenie! (just kidding Mitch). 2nd, It's hard to see your kids have heartache. 3rd, Setting up for a daughter's reception is akin to setting up for the Superbowl, only more difficult. 4th, Setting up for your daughter's reception is much more rewarding than setting up for the Superbowl.
Wednesday was clean the house and fix the faucet day! I never realized how much junk get clogged in faucets. Logan and Mitch and I were replacing the faucet and I thought Mitch was going to throw up when he saw all the hair/gunk, etc. He had that gag reflex thing going, and I thought he was going to spew all over the floor. I was really tired by the time I got to bed.
Thursday was great. At 3:00 we went over to the barn to decorate for Amber's reception. It was A LOT of hard work, but we had a ton of friends to help. Kerry and Kim, the Macllelans, Bonnie Jones, Sherrie Reeder, Tonya Neilson, Kelly Anderson, Mitch and Amber, Kaylee and her friend Halie, and my two boys, were all helping. We had to clean the chairs, put on the chair covers, put on bows, steam the tablecloths, hang pictures, hang banners, put up spot lights, and do about 1,000 other things. I never knew it was so hard to set up for a reception! However, it looked fantastic! I couldn't believe how nice it looked. We worked from 3:00 to 10:00, and then we all came home exhausted. We finally got to bed at about 1:00 in the morning. At about 4:30, Nicole was restless, so I work up as well (I'm a light sleeper). I said, "Why are you awake at 4:30?" She said, "I'm just so excited! My brain is going, and I can't get back to sleep!" I can honestly say, I don't think this happens to guys! I told her that if she didn't get back to sleep, she was going to crash and burn on Friday, but I still think she stayed up a while. I have to admit, it was exciting to see everything come together. However, it wasn't so exciting that I couldn't sleep. I think the only time I couldn't sleep was after I got my Pinarello, and even then, I think it only cut into about 4 minutes of sleep time. Getting good sleep has never been a problem of mine, I could sleep standing up if there was a pillow attached to the wall. Come to think of it, I could sleep standing up even if there wasn't a pillow attached to the wall!
My family all gets in on Friday. Keith got in last night. Should be an exciting couple of days! Things I learned today: 1st, Mitch is a weenie! (just kidding Mitch). 2nd, It's hard to see your kids have heartache. 3rd, Setting up for a daughter's reception is akin to setting up for the Superbowl, only more difficult. 4th, Setting up for your daughter's reception is much more rewarding than setting up for the Superbowl.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
April 15th through 18th, 2011 - 126th through 129th Days
Friday we had a soccer game and Logan was Awesome! He was blocking shots all over the place. We were playing Desert Hills, one of our main rivals, at home. It was 0-0 and there was only a minute and 30 seconds left in the game. Then guess what happened? Right, another foul by our player in the goalie box, and they get a free shot. We all started chanting, "Logan, Logan, Logan!" Well, they scored and we lost 1-0. What a bad way to lose! But, I was proud of myself, I didn't yell at the refs, or even raise my voice. Whenever I'd get mad I'd just say, "Kerry, yell at that ref"! Hey, at least it's a start!
Saturday was a big day because we got to take Amber through the temple for the first time. The temple is so quiet and peaceful, it was a great way to start off the Saturday. Then I came home, and went shopping with Kaylee at Costco and we were nice to everyone! I then called Ken Sheppard up and we went for a bike ride. At night we went to Kaylee Reeder's wedding reception out in Toquerville. It was really nice. We got so busy with everything that was happening in the day we forgot to pick up Logan's corsage for the Senior ball. The place where we ordered the corsage from, Bloomers, had already closed, so what did Nicole do? She made one for Logan's date. And, no surprise, it was gorgeous. Sometimes I think there is nothing my wife can't do. I think next week I'm going to have her make me a suit out of cottage cheese. I'm sure she could make it look fantastic, although it may be a little hard to dry clean.
On Sunday I had a nice, peaceful day. As I've mentioned before, it's always easy to be nice to others on Sunday. I was able to go to church, read, and sleep for an hour or so. At night we had a leadership meeting and learned about bringing the lost sheep back into the fold. It was really nice.
Monday was a busy day. I worked, then came home, made salsa, cooked dinner, cleaned up, and then went to a choir concert my son, Logan, was participating in. The concert was nice, but I have to admit, it was kind of long. One song was 30 minutes. Now, I appreciate music as much as the next guy (and my son's choir was incredible), but listening to one song for 30 minutes is akin to standing in line at Disneyland for an hour when you have to go to the bathroom. You get just a little ansy! I also began organizing my 25 year mission reunion. I started a group on Facebook, and within an hour 34 people from my mission were part of the group. It should be really fun seeing everyone again. We're going to have a nice dinner, a little program, and a slide show. It will be a little bit of work, but I called a few of my mission buddies and we have a little committee going that should help out.
This week is going to be an adventure. My daugther, Amber, gets married on Saturday, April 23rd. I can't believe I have a daughter old enough to get married! I guess that means I'm getting kind of old Oh well, at least I haven't got a big beer belly yet (just a little soda pop can belly at the moment!).
Saturday was a big day because we got to take Amber through the temple for the first time. The temple is so quiet and peaceful, it was a great way to start off the Saturday. Then I came home, and went shopping with Kaylee at Costco and we were nice to everyone! I then called Ken Sheppard up and we went for a bike ride. At night we went to Kaylee Reeder's wedding reception out in Toquerville. It was really nice. We got so busy with everything that was happening in the day we forgot to pick up Logan's corsage for the Senior ball. The place where we ordered the corsage from, Bloomers, had already closed, so what did Nicole do? She made one for Logan's date. And, no surprise, it was gorgeous. Sometimes I think there is nothing my wife can't do. I think next week I'm going to have her make me a suit out of cottage cheese. I'm sure she could make it look fantastic, although it may be a little hard to dry clean.
On Sunday I had a nice, peaceful day. As I've mentioned before, it's always easy to be nice to others on Sunday. I was able to go to church, read, and sleep for an hour or so. At night we had a leadership meeting and learned about bringing the lost sheep back into the fold. It was really nice.
Monday was a busy day. I worked, then came home, made salsa, cooked dinner, cleaned up, and then went to a choir concert my son, Logan, was participating in. The concert was nice, but I have to admit, it was kind of long. One song was 30 minutes. Now, I appreciate music as much as the next guy (and my son's choir was incredible), but listening to one song for 30 minutes is akin to standing in line at Disneyland for an hour when you have to go to the bathroom. You get just a little ansy! I also began organizing my 25 year mission reunion. I started a group on Facebook, and within an hour 34 people from my mission were part of the group. It should be really fun seeing everyone again. We're going to have a nice dinner, a little program, and a slide show. It will be a little bit of work, but I called a few of my mission buddies and we have a little committee going that should help out.
This week is going to be an adventure. My daugther, Amber, gets married on Saturday, April 23rd. I can't believe I have a daughter old enough to get married! I guess that means I'm getting kind of old Oh well, at least I haven't got a big beer belly yet (just a little soda pop can belly at the moment!).
Friday, April 15, 2011
April 13th and 14th, 2011 - 124th and 125th Days
Wednesday was clean day in preparation for Kaylee coming home. We were all so excited, that it was pretty easy to be nice to everyone, but I still find I'm a little tense for some reason. Could it be that my daughter is getting married in less than a week? No, that's probably not it. So we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more. I dusted, and dusted, and then dusted after I was done dusting. Every time I dust I think of the fact that dust is made up of dead skin cells, dried feces and dessicated corpses of dust mites! Great thought, huh? Well, I think I wiped out my fare share of dessicated corpses Wednesday night, I'll tell you that! I'm sure the live dust mites were running in fear as the giant bald guy with the can of funiture polish and the humongous rag was moving in for the kill!
Thursday was an awesome day! The entire day until 5:00 felt like it was a week long, however. We took the family and drove down to Las Vegas to pick her up. Logan couldn't come, because his soccer coach has a rule--you miss practice the day before a game, you don't play the next day. When Kaylee got off the plane, hugs and tears were flying like dessicated dust mite corpses! It was so great to see her.. She had been up for 24 hours, so she was very tired, but she wanted to eat American food so we took her to Cafe Rio and she ate an ENTIRE pork salad! Kaylee eating an entire pork salad is akin to the normal person eating an entire cow! She must have been hungry. I've heard the Englishmen don't have very good food. That's why everyone says, "I'd rather eat an American rock then an English steak!" (I'm not sure that everyone actually says that, but I'm sure it's true nonetheless). In fact, Kaylee kind of proved it when she engulfed the pork salad. Maybe the saying should be, "I'd rather eat an American pork salad than English liver." (P.S. Kaylee wasn't so fond of the liver they served her).
When we got home, Kaylee gave us our presents. She gave Hunter a very cool leather soccer ball, Logan an English hat, Amber and Mitch some noodles from Italy, Amber some lingerie, Nicole a hat, and me some chocolate. However, she also gave me something else, and it was the best present. For the last three months she's been taking pictures of "NO Cyclists" signs all across Europe. Then, she put it to music and had a really cute message at the end. It meant a lot to me that she would put that much effort into something for me. It's been so fun to have Kaylee back home!
Thursday was an awesome day! The entire day until 5:00 felt like it was a week long, however. We took the family and drove down to Las Vegas to pick her up. Logan couldn't come, because his soccer coach has a rule--you miss practice the day before a game, you don't play the next day. When Kaylee got off the plane, hugs and tears were flying like dessicated dust mite corpses! It was so great to see her.. She had been up for 24 hours, so she was very tired, but she wanted to eat American food so we took her to Cafe Rio and she ate an ENTIRE pork salad! Kaylee eating an entire pork salad is akin to the normal person eating an entire cow! She must have been hungry. I've heard the Englishmen don't have very good food. That's why everyone says, "I'd rather eat an American rock then an English steak!" (I'm not sure that everyone actually says that, but I'm sure it's true nonetheless). In fact, Kaylee kind of proved it when she engulfed the pork salad. Maybe the saying should be, "I'd rather eat an American pork salad than English liver." (P.S. Kaylee wasn't so fond of the liver they served her).
When we got home, Kaylee gave us our presents. She gave Hunter a very cool leather soccer ball, Logan an English hat, Amber and Mitch some noodles from Italy, Amber some lingerie, Nicole a hat, and me some chocolate. However, she also gave me something else, and it was the best present. For the last three months she's been taking pictures of "NO Cyclists" signs all across Europe. Then, she put it to music and had a really cute message at the end. It meant a lot to me that she would put that much effort into something for me. It's been so fun to have Kaylee back home!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
April 11th and 12th, 2011 - 122nd and 123rd Day
I wanted to plant my garden on Monday, so I headed to Home Depot in search of plants. I didn't realize there were 4,000 different kind of tomato plants! After doing the ini mini miny moe to pick the tomatoes, then I decided to buy some peppers. I found out there are 5,000 kinds of peppers. Well, this went on and on, until I finally just picked a few, then grabbed a bag of seeds for cucumbers, cilantro, onions, and Anaheim peppers. By the time I got home it was 8:30 and dark, but I was determined to plant. Logan held the flashlight, and I dug the holes, then I held the flashlight while he dug the holes. We then planted about 25 Anaheim seeds, so I'm sure I'll have Anaheim peppers coming out my nose. I didn't even get to plant the other seeds yet, so I'll have to do that later this week. The lady at home depot was very helpful, so she was easy to be nice to.
On Tuesday my boys had a soccer game, and I'm embarrassed to say, I was not super nice to the refs. I really need to just be quiet, but they really were not very good. They seemed to be calling the game very one sided. Of course, it probably didn't help that we were playing Dixie and they are just better than us. Logan is our goalie, and he had made 12 saves in the first 8 minutes. It's one of those times in sports when you really don't want your son to touch the ball that much! Dixie wears white and blue, and the ref was wearing blue. At one point, I said, "Ref, just because you're wearing blue doesn't mean you have to give all the calls to Dixie!" I shouldn't have said that, so on the way home, I made a committment to just not say anything to the refs. A few weeks back, I decided to not say negative things about any of the players when they're playing like old women with arthritis. That helped my attitude, so this next game I'm not even going to tell the refs that they need glasses. It's going to be a challenge. What do I do if the refs are reffing like old women with arthritis! Kaylee comes home on Thursday. I'm more than excited.
On Tuesday my boys had a soccer game, and I'm embarrassed to say, I was not super nice to the refs. I really need to just be quiet, but they really were not very good. They seemed to be calling the game very one sided. Of course, it probably didn't help that we were playing Dixie and they are just better than us. Logan is our goalie, and he had made 12 saves in the first 8 minutes. It's one of those times in sports when you really don't want your son to touch the ball that much! Dixie wears white and blue, and the ref was wearing blue. At one point, I said, "Ref, just because you're wearing blue doesn't mean you have to give all the calls to Dixie!" I shouldn't have said that, so on the way home, I made a committment to just not say anything to the refs. A few weeks back, I decided to not say negative things about any of the players when they're playing like old women with arthritis. That helped my attitude, so this next game I'm not even going to tell the refs that they need glasses. It's going to be a challenge. What do I do if the refs are reffing like old women with arthritis! Kaylee comes home on Thursday. I'm more than excited.
Monday, April 11, 2011
April 7th through 10th, 2011 - 118th through 121st Days
After riding hard with Kerry on Wednesday, it luckily rained on Thursday, so I got a bit of a reprieve. By Friday the wind was howling and it was 40 degrees outside. We had to go to a soccer game that night, and it was cold. When I say cold, I'm not talking St. George cold, I'm talking real cold, like Canada cold (OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it was very cold)! We brought a little propane heater to the game and sat it on the ground in front of us. I was afraid that someone was going to touch it, burn their skin off, and sue me for $100 (well, at least that's all they'd be able to get out of me at the moment!) It definitely provided some warmth, but it was so cold that Kerry and Kim bought pizza from Costco and you had to take it out of the box quickly, and eat it like a jack rabbit (I'm assuming jack rabbits eat pizza very quickly). Pineview dominated in the game, I think we shot 5,000 times and missed all but once. Snow Canyon, however, shot 4 times, and made two of them. The result? Snow Canyon 2, PineView 1. I think maybe our guys eyelids were frozen shut and they couldn't see the goal. Either that, or we're just not very good. I'm going to go with the eylids frozen shut. After the game, I was so cold I had to go home, make a hot bath, and thaw out. I must have pinched a nerve or something because my back was killing me! I'd never had sympathy for people with back pain before. Now I do. I couldn't even roll over without moaning and groaning. I think my wife must have been thinking, "Good thing he didn't have to have the babies!" I took three ibuprofens and rubbed that Bengay stuff on my back, and I still woke up at 2:30. Then, I tried to roll over on my stomach, and it felt like someone stabbed me with a very sharp needle. On Saturday, I woke up to clean the garage and I couldn't even bend over to pick anything up. I kept having to ask my boys to pick up anything heavier than a screwdriver. I felt like one of those city managers who lean on their shovels and tell the other guys to get to work. By Saturday afternoon I was feeling a little better. I went to the state baptism at 5:00 and there were 700 people there! It wasn't bad, however, and I was only there about an hour 1/2. At 6:30 Nicole and I went to the HP party and they had baked potatoes and salad. We then had a counselor, Mark Clayton, come in and talk to us about communication. It was fun, and I actually learned something about communicating, which I wasn't expecting to.
On Sunday I had a dream about my mission president and his wife. I woke up and it was 2:30 in the morning. I decided I needed to plan the 25 year mission reunion. So, what did I do? I planned the entire reunion from 2:30 to 3:45. Then, I went back to bed until 5:15. Guess what? When I woke up, my ideas weren't near as great as I thought they were at 2:30 in the morning. Why is it that ideas that seem so fantastic at 2:30 seem so dumb at 6:00? Well, the rest of the day was great, and I made salsa for Bishop Walker and Brother Neilson. After delivering the salsa, we went home, played some games and went to bed. Four more days until Kaylee is home! In the last four days, I was nice to everyone I met, and didn't even feel like getting grumpy, so it was a good weekend.
On Sunday I had a dream about my mission president and his wife. I woke up and it was 2:30 in the morning. I decided I needed to plan the 25 year mission reunion. So, what did I do? I planned the entire reunion from 2:30 to 3:45. Then, I went back to bed until 5:15. Guess what? When I woke up, my ideas weren't near as great as I thought they were at 2:30 in the morning. Why is it that ideas that seem so fantastic at 2:30 seem so dumb at 6:00? Well, the rest of the day was great, and I made salsa for Bishop Walker and Brother Neilson. After delivering the salsa, we went home, played some games and went to bed. Four more days until Kaylee is home! In the last four days, I was nice to everyone I met, and didn't even feel like getting grumpy, so it was a good weekend.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
April 3rd through 6th, 2011 - 114 through 117 Days
Ah, Sunday was nice. I got to sleep in until 8:30, then I woke up, ate some Marshmellow Matties, and watched conference until 12:00. How does it get much better than that. I then watched another conference session from 2:00 to 4:00, and the prohet and others talked about marriage, and how we should treat our spouses. Elder Scott gave a great talk on how much he loved his wife, and how she had died in 2005, and he missed her, but he was glad for all the times they had. It was really sweet. After conference, I got to go do a little service for a half hour or so, then, Mike Anderson called and asked if we wanted to come over and have dinner and make cookies. We had already made Chicken noodle soup, and chocolate cookies, so we just took our dinner and cookies, and traveled up to Kelly and Mike's house. Kelly had made salad, and it was really nice to just sit, relax, and eat. So, we ate, and talked, and then ate cookies, and then more cookies, etc., until I officially now look exactly like a cookie. I guess it's true, you are what you eat. Good thing I wasn't eating pumpkins.
On Monday, we did yard work for Family Home Evening, and the boys were awesome! They worked like Spartacus (I'm assuming, of course, that Spartacus was a very hard worker). We then went to In and Out (as you can tell, I like In and Out) and had a double/double! Woo Hoo! How's that for fighting the fluff Debbie?. Speaking of Debbie, she called at about 7:30 and asked the boys if they wanted to earn some money. Of course, my boys said, "No, we're loaded". Yeah, right, my boys jumped all over that, and they went and stuffed envelopes for a few hours. Like most things Kimzey's do, they made it into a competition. They said they stuffed 600 envelopes in 2 1/2 hours, so I'll have to confirm that with Debbie, that seems like a lot, even for my super boys. While I was dropping off Hunter at Debbie's she gave me 5 biking jerseys! I was so excited. I have such great friends. I challenge anybody who has ever read this blog to have better friends than I do. I didn't think so!
On Tuesday Kerry and I got to ride our bikes to and from work. It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to ride the entire day, but no such luck. However, we were looking good in our Orange, Blue, and green jerseys that Debbie gave us! Life is good, life is very good! Please, no comments about how the orange jerseys must have made me look like a pumpkin. To that I say, "Yeah, right, when have you ever seen an Orange and Blue pumpkin?" I definitely looked more like a Boise State Football Player (or maybe a mascot, but definitely Boise State).
Wednesday was the middle of the week, and not too exciting. We stayed up late helping Hunter with his skit for student council. I hope he does well, we'll see. He's pretty funny, so he can probably pull it off. Talked with Kaylee for a while on Skype today, I can't believe she's coming home in a week!
On Monday, we did yard work for Family Home Evening, and the boys were awesome! They worked like Spartacus (I'm assuming, of course, that Spartacus was a very hard worker). We then went to In and Out (as you can tell, I like In and Out) and had a double/double! Woo Hoo! How's that for fighting the fluff Debbie?. Speaking of Debbie, she called at about 7:30 and asked the boys if they wanted to earn some money. Of course, my boys said, "No, we're loaded". Yeah, right, my boys jumped all over that, and they went and stuffed envelopes for a few hours. Like most things Kimzey's do, they made it into a competition. They said they stuffed 600 envelopes in 2 1/2 hours, so I'll have to confirm that with Debbie, that seems like a lot, even for my super boys. While I was dropping off Hunter at Debbie's she gave me 5 biking jerseys! I was so excited. I have such great friends. I challenge anybody who has ever read this blog to have better friends than I do. I didn't think so!
On Tuesday Kerry and I got to ride our bikes to and from work. It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to ride the entire day, but no such luck. However, we were looking good in our Orange, Blue, and green jerseys that Debbie gave us! Life is good, life is very good! Please, no comments about how the orange jerseys must have made me look like a pumpkin. To that I say, "Yeah, right, when have you ever seen an Orange and Blue pumpkin?" I definitely looked more like a Boise State Football Player (or maybe a mascot, but definitely Boise State).
Wednesday was the middle of the week, and not too exciting. We stayed up late helping Hunter with his skit for student council. I hope he does well, we'll see. He's pretty funny, so he can probably pull it off. Talked with Kaylee for a while on Skype today, I can't believe she's coming home in a week!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
April 1st and 2nd, 2011 - 112th and 113th Days
I love Fridays. Especially when there's not a lot at work to do and it's payday! Friday afternoon we went to Cedar to watch Logan and Hunter play soccer. I'm going to miss going to my kid's games when they all leave the nest. Our Varsity played first and we beat Cedar 2-0, then our J.V. won 1-0. So, it was a successful day, and there was no yelling at the ref. I didn't even feel the need to say ANYTHING negative. In fact, I told Nicole I'm going to only be positive at all soccer games. She said, "You mean, if someone is really playing bad, you can say, 'That person is not nearly as horrible as they were last week!', or something like that?" I assured her I was going to be much more positive. If someone made a really bad play, I would just sit and smile, and say, "Good try, good try". It was much more enjoyable, but it was also probably easier due to the fact we were crushing the other team. My goal may be short lived when we play Snow Canyon next week, we'll see. After the game, we went to Cafe Rio and Ordered dinner. Hunter wasn't very hungry so he ordered a kids Quesadilla. When I got up to pay for the meal, the lady at the counter said, "Oh, the kid's Quesadilla is free". I said, "What?" She said, "It's free, the kid's quesadilla's are free". I said, "Great, I'll have 32 of them please!" She didn't give me 32 of them. Apparently, you only get one free with your meal.
On Saturday, we woke up and started doing yard work while listening to conference. That doesn't work too well, especially when your neighbor starts up his leaf blower. It's definitely harder to listen to talks over a leaf blower. In fact, it didn't really make one of the talks better. If it were sacrament meeting, it may have made some of the talks better, but conference is a different story. Just kidding, don't send hate mail. During the break, Kerry and I took off for a 30 mile bike ride, and I think Kerry was trying to kill me. He had apparently not only eaten his Wheaties that morning, but I think he ate the entire box! I was feeling good, he was feeling like super biker on roids! About half way through, one of my legs fell off, and I had to stop and sew it back on. Luckily, the sight of my leg on the ground made him stop as well, and I got a little reprieve. Once I returned home as a hurting unit, I tried to again watch conference while doing yard work. This time, the entire neighborhood was out talking, riding bikes, etc, and so again, my conference time was not quality conference time. That night, my boys and I got to attend the priesthood session, and we happen to sit in the one place in the cultural hall where the air conditioning unit was blowing directly on us. It was kind of like listening to conference while someone was blowing cold air on you. Wait, it was exactly like that! My eyelashes only froze to my eyelids once, however, so I was able to get something out of the priesthood session. Luckily, my neighbor wasn't standing next to me with his leaf blower, or that would have put me over the edge. After the session, Logan and Hunter and I went to Larson's Frost Stop and had hamburgers and french fries, and glaciers. A glacier is ice cream in a slush. It's about as good as anything you can think of, maybe better. There we were, all three of us in suits, eating hamburgers and drinking glaciers. I sometimes wonder what it's like for people visiting our city after conference. They're probably thinking, "Why are all the people in suits and ties, even the young ones? This must be a very interesting place to live!" Things I learned, 1st, Listening to conference while your neighbor uses his leaf blower is like trying to talk on the phone while your wife uses the hair dryer right next to you. You can tell there's talking, but everything is pretty garbled. 2nd, Cafe Rio gives free quesadillas to kids! I think next week I'm going to take a bus load of orphans into Cafe Rio and say, "I'd like my 56 free quesadillas please". 3rd, Don't go riding bikes with Kerry, the madman Kimzey, when he's eaten an entire box of Wheaties and taken roids--he will destroy you! 4th, It's harder to listen to a speaker when you're freezing cold. Your mind becomes numb, and you're more concerned about your fingers falling off, then getting spiritually edified. 5th, Larson's Frost Stop has killer glaciers. 6th, I like going out with my boys, they're good kids, and Hunter looks like Giorgio Armani in his new suit and skinny tie (at least that's what he says).
On Saturday, we woke up and started doing yard work while listening to conference. That doesn't work too well, especially when your neighbor starts up his leaf blower. It's definitely harder to listen to talks over a leaf blower. In fact, it didn't really make one of the talks better. If it were sacrament meeting, it may have made some of the talks better, but conference is a different story. Just kidding, don't send hate mail. During the break, Kerry and I took off for a 30 mile bike ride, and I think Kerry was trying to kill me. He had apparently not only eaten his Wheaties that morning, but I think he ate the entire box! I was feeling good, he was feeling like super biker on roids! About half way through, one of my legs fell off, and I had to stop and sew it back on. Luckily, the sight of my leg on the ground made him stop as well, and I got a little reprieve. Once I returned home as a hurting unit, I tried to again watch conference while doing yard work. This time, the entire neighborhood was out talking, riding bikes, etc, and so again, my conference time was not quality conference time. That night, my boys and I got to attend the priesthood session, and we happen to sit in the one place in the cultural hall where the air conditioning unit was blowing directly on us. It was kind of like listening to conference while someone was blowing cold air on you. Wait, it was exactly like that! My eyelashes only froze to my eyelids once, however, so I was able to get something out of the priesthood session. Luckily, my neighbor wasn't standing next to me with his leaf blower, or that would have put me over the edge. After the session, Logan and Hunter and I went to Larson's Frost Stop and had hamburgers and french fries, and glaciers. A glacier is ice cream in a slush. It's about as good as anything you can think of, maybe better. There we were, all three of us in suits, eating hamburgers and drinking glaciers. I sometimes wonder what it's like for people visiting our city after conference. They're probably thinking, "Why are all the people in suits and ties, even the young ones? This must be a very interesting place to live!" Things I learned, 1st, Listening to conference while your neighbor uses his leaf blower is like trying to talk on the phone while your wife uses the hair dryer right next to you. You can tell there's talking, but everything is pretty garbled. 2nd, Cafe Rio gives free quesadillas to kids! I think next week I'm going to take a bus load of orphans into Cafe Rio and say, "I'd like my 56 free quesadillas please". 3rd, Don't go riding bikes with Kerry, the madman Kimzey, when he's eaten an entire box of Wheaties and taken roids--he will destroy you! 4th, It's harder to listen to a speaker when you're freezing cold. Your mind becomes numb, and you're more concerned about your fingers falling off, then getting spiritually edified. 5th, Larson's Frost Stop has killer glaciers. 6th, I like going out with my boys, they're good kids, and Hunter looks like Giorgio Armani in his new suit and skinny tie (at least that's what he says).
March 31st, 2011 - 111th Day
I finally found a few Lincoln Navigators that looked promising. Both of them were in Salt Lake City, so Kerry and I took a road trip on Thursday to head up to Salt Lake. The first Navigator was at Riverton Chevrolet. I had been in contact with Ryan, who had followed up nicely, so I figured it wouldn't be a typical car buying experience. I was wrong! Right when we walked in the door, Ryan said, "Hi, I'm Ryan, let me introduce you to Mike, one of our Senior, more experienced, sales associates" At that, Ryan was gone, and Mike took over. He said, "What car were you looking at again?" He then told us to sit, and we watched as he went out with the jumper cables and jumped the Navigator. After about 15 minutes, he came and got us to show us the vehicle. Besides having to be jumped, the car was dirty, and the bottom was rusted. When we drove it, there was a constant pinging in the glove box, and the transmission sounded like it was going to fall off on the freeway. When we got back to the dealership, Mike said, "Let me go get you my card". After 5 or 10 more minutes, Mike came out with Jose. "This is my manager, Jose". Jose then said, "What do we have to do to get you in that vehicle today?" I said, "We're going to look at another one, and so your vehicle has to be better than the one we are going to look at." He then said, "Well, we'll see you in 30 minutes then." I said, "No, you won't unless you're vehicle is better than the one we're going to look at". At this point, I was a little perturbed. First, they knew we were coming hours before we arrived. They hadn't even started the car, there were gum wrappers on the back seat, the car was dirty, rusty, had the pinging sound, and the transmission sounded bad. We were handed off to different people twice. What is it about car dealerships handing you off to different people? If a salesperson can't show you a car, should he really be a salesperson?!
We traveled to the next dealership, Murray Auto, and it was completely different. Simon came out, greeted us, had the car all cleaned and ready, and didn't pressure us at all. The Navigator ran great, looked great, and Simon didn't hand me off to his manager. Which Navigator do you think I bought? You're right, the first one. No, just kidding, we bought the 2nd vehicle. We then drove back to Provo, and met up with my brother Keith, and his wife Tonya, and their kids. We had a great conversation before Kerry and I had to travel back to Saint George. So, today was quite the accomplishment, because I dealt with a car dealer and was still nice to them, even though they were what the rest of the world would call sleezy dirtbags. Ok, maybe not that harsh, I would put car salespeople somewhere between sea urchins and congressmen, but that's not fair to the sea urchins.
Things I learned today, 1st, Going car shopping can be fun, but it can also be like trying to floss the teeth of a lion (very dangerous and no fun). 2nd, Everytime I get in a bind with anyone, I am going to just call in my personal manager. That way, he can come in and save the day, and I don't have to be accountable for anything. So, when my wife says, "Honey, did you clean the backyard like you said you were going to?" All I have to say is, "Talk to my manager, he's more experienced than I am". 3rd, I've now found something that is harder to deal with than crab grass--car salespeople!
We traveled to the next dealership, Murray Auto, and it was completely different. Simon came out, greeted us, had the car all cleaned and ready, and didn't pressure us at all. The Navigator ran great, looked great, and Simon didn't hand me off to his manager. Which Navigator do you think I bought? You're right, the first one. No, just kidding, we bought the 2nd vehicle. We then drove back to Provo, and met up with my brother Keith, and his wife Tonya, and their kids. We had a great conversation before Kerry and I had to travel back to Saint George. So, today was quite the accomplishment, because I dealt with a car dealer and was still nice to them, even though they were what the rest of the world would call sleezy dirtbags. Ok, maybe not that harsh, I would put car salespeople somewhere between sea urchins and congressmen, but that's not fair to the sea urchins.
Things I learned today, 1st, Going car shopping can be fun, but it can also be like trying to floss the teeth of a lion (very dangerous and no fun). 2nd, Everytime I get in a bind with anyone, I am going to just call in my personal manager. That way, he can come in and save the day, and I don't have to be accountable for anything. So, when my wife says, "Honey, did you clean the backyard like you said you were going to?" All I have to say is, "Talk to my manager, he's more experienced than I am". 3rd, I've now found something that is harder to deal with than crab grass--car salespeople!
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