Purple Haze

This year Miles planted a variety of carrots called Purple Haze. True to their name, these psychedelic vegetables would make Jimi Hendrix proud. They weren't as sweet as some other varities, but they tasted like any other regular carrot. Check out those funky shapes!

We ate these fab veggies raw with broccoli. Then Melinda made them into some really groovy technicolor soup. The taste was out of this world.

It was really hip, man. Can you dig it?

Love at first snow

Tonight we finally got our first snowfall. Saffron couldn't wait until daytime to go out, so her brothers were more than happy to accompany her. They even dug out her winter boots from the storage room.

She was concentrating very hard on making tracks. She was very happy in the snow. One of her favorite books is "Snow" by P.D. Eastman and Roy McKie. Every time I think of snow the words of the book come to me: "Snow, snow, come out in the snow! Do you like snow, yes or no?"

Ian is practicing his snowball skills. I have a feeling that Miles is going have ski dreams tonight.

Family Downtown Evening

This year we bought a family pass to the Utah Children's Museum at The Gateway. The kids have been there a few times, but I've only been once so we decided to go downtown and make a visit for Family Home Evening. They had a special Robots exhibit that was pretty cool.


They had robotic toys, statues, and these really cool robotic arms you could control. It was a big hit with the the kids. We spent almost two hours there and we didn't even hit half of the place, so we decided we need to go more often. I had forgotten how fun it is. It was great because they're open later on Monday nights, and there was hardly anyone else there. Plus it's such a great opportunity to play with the kids.


On our way to the museum I took this shot of Temple Square through the car windshield while we were waiting at the light. It looked so inviting that we made a whole night of it and wandered around the temple grounds admiring the shimmering lights after the museum.

The Assembly Hall looked stunning with all of the vivid orange, yellow and purple lights all around it. I'm usually quite the Grinch, but even I can't help feeling a little jolly with all the Christmas lights up.

The temple of course looks very majestic and inviting behind all of the brightly lit trees. Somehow it's always so comforting and peaceful to me. Of course it was Christmastime 1995 when Melinda and I were married in this temple for time and all eternity. I was going to say that was the best Christmastime for me, but when I honestly think about it, they keep getting better; especially with each of the children.

I loved Melinda then, but I love her so much more now. Now we have Lisette, Miles, Ian and Saffron, too. My love hasn't been spread thinner now that we have them; my capacity to love has grown more than I could have ever imagined.

They had nativity scenes from different countries and cultures around the grounds. Lisette made sure we saw them all. We really liked the New Zealand one, with the lamb and the kiwi. It's always a good reminder that Christmas is about Jesus Christ and not Santa Claus or the Christmas Monkey.

We finished the night off by getting cinnamon rolls and egg nog from Harmons. Yum. We made hot cocoa with little marshmallows and sang some Primary Christmas songs before we prayed and went to bed. It was a very nice family evening.

Make us truly thankful

Today is Thanksgiving and there is so much to be thankful for. We had a lovely today together with family. We drove up to my grandma's house in Brigham City. It was a cold day, but sunny and bright. We were so glad to have my parents visiting from Alaska, and Ruth and Darius visiting from Florida, though we missed James and Michel and her family


Everyone contributed to the delicious homemade banquet (though Mom did the lion's share.) We feasted on:

• Turkey
• Ham
• Mashed potatoes
• Green bean casserole
  
• Stuffing
• Butter rolls
• Candied yams
• Cranberry salad
• Creamy apple salad
  

My Uncle Ray and Aunt Marie were visiting from the Cedar City area. It was a real treat to have them around. I love sitting around and hearing Ray's stories of great grandpa Owen, and great grandpa Rose. Leonard came over later for a little while with his family. I love my uncles and I was so glad to see them. It's fun to see how much they look alike now, especially with their gray hair.



We of course had pies. Lots of pies. It was a plenitude of pies; a cornucopia of pies. We had:

• Pumpkin
  
• Pecan
  
• Sweet potato
• Apple
• Cherry
• Banana cream
• Coconut cream
• Chocolate cream
  
• Chocolate turtle cream
  

No family get-together is complete without a few rounds of pinochle. Everyone wanted Clair to do his customized family version of the "Thanksgiving Song," so I accompanied him on guitar.

It was pretty much a perfect day. I am so thankful for my family; they're the best.

Couple of the hour

Yesterday we had had a wedding and a baby shower for Ruth and Darius. The rest of our family was finally able to meet Darius, and they weren't disappointed. We're so glad that Ruth found such a fine gentleman that takes good care of her. They are such a kind and loving pair. I absolutely can't wait for their baby; he or she is going to be über cute. I mean just look the parents!

Mom and Connie got this fabulous wedding cake that was very elegant (and tasty, too.) Darius cooked up some jambalaya and their was plenty of cornbread.

Clair made a great MC for the night. We did a quick round of Mafia and we were totally bamboozled by the chosen mafia; we had no clue. Speaking of cute babies, Makenna was completely adorable laughing loudly every time we did. Everyone is anxiously awaiting for this years rendition of the "Thanksgiving Song."

Mom hosted the ever-popular Newlywed Game where we found out that Clair has lots of holey socks, Bobby is the only guy Carrie ever gave her real phone number to, Darius likes to ride horses, and I have a diaper in the glove compartment.


My lovely wife Melinda had a good time (probably laughing at me for taking so many pictures.) I used her mom's cool new digital camera and her dad's big flash attachment. Only problem is it makes me want to get a new camera.

Michel brought 3 of her girls and Joy brought Olive, her dog. Olive is my little canine friend. My little hairy, loose-skinned, drooling buddy. We all talked about how we met our significant other. Michel didn't let me forget about the time she made Brent a chessecake to impress him and I pulled the instant mix box out of the trash. Whoa, I was such rude little punk then!


Carrie and Bobby were very gracious to host the party at their house. They have these super high-tech light switches which people kept leaning into and turning out all the lights. I would hazard a guess that their was some smooching going on during those dark episodes.

I got to meet Bobby's mom and dad; Bob and DJ (I don't know if I spelled that right?) Their first "meeting" was pretty funny - Bob and his friends drove up to DJ and her friends and honked at them and drove away. Then DJ met him later and said, "Hey that was you!"

We had a great time. It was cool to have everyone together (though we did miss James who is in China.) Ruth is going to make a great mom and we're so happy to have Darius as a part of our family. Because so many of us are far apart now, it's extra special when we do get together.

Home Sweet Homes

Saturday night Arden hosted a birthday party. Almost all of the relatives in the Salt Lake Valley were there. It was really fun to have so many people there. Saffron even found some kids to run around with. We counted afterwards and there were almost 80 people there.

Scott had baked gingerbread virtually non-stop for a week so that everyone could make gingerbread houses. The garage was cleaned out and setup with long tables and everyone was swarming around decorating sugar cookies and constructing gingerbread houses. There was frosting and candy everywhere!

Miles and Ashton were working on one together, but somehow the gingerbread they had was too soft so it kept falling down. It looked kind of like a condemned meth house. They gave up, but afterwards when most people had left, Lisette and Miles made their own from the leftovers, and Ian and I decorated someone's abandoned house. We ended up taking 3 of them home.

Today is Monday and two are left standing, albeit with some candy missing, and one looks like it got hit by Hurricane Ian. Ian is practical and doesn't want to let the candy and gingerbread go stale. Needless to say, we helped him out.

Brian and Dejah

Congratulations are in order for Brian and Dejah! Brian called earlier this evening to tell us the good news of their impending nuptials!

Melinda was just telling me yesterday that she thinks that Brian should marry Dejah. We're so glad because Dejah is too good to let go.

They looked so happy sitting with each other during the family party on Saturday. They are definitely a great match.

Its always fun for everyone when Grandpa comes

Friday I took the day off, so Melinda went to pick up my parents from the airport so I could sleep in a little. She left about 7:15 so I was kind of worried when my mom called me wondering where we were. Melinda must have just missed them so she went to the Park and Wait. Unfortunately, the van wouldn't start after she turned it off.

I drove out to the airport and luckily we were able to jump start it. Later I Ian and Saffy to Checker Auto to get a new battery. I undid the battery and took it in, and they checked and it was OK (it just needed charging). So I put the battery back in but Ian dropped one of the screws in the engine compartment. We couldn't find it so we went in to find a replacement screw. We tried one out but it wasn't the right size. So we were going to go back in and get another one when Saffron threw the wrench (which she insisted to hold) into the engine. I reached in to get the wrench and we found the screw! It's nice when things turn out like that!

We had a great time with my parents. The kids we're really excited to have them around. They got up early and were just waiting for them to arrive. They bought us bagels for breakfast and we sat around and chatted before they took a nap. When dad came back later from the Carrie's pain clinic, we ate bean dip with Clair and Makenna, and then went for a walk later.

Saturday dad made blueberry pancakes with us (yum!) before Connie drove them to Roy.

Come to the Dark Side

After about 3 years of faithful service my trusty iPod mini bit the dust. The little 4 GB hard drive has gone on to greener pastures . In my line of work I have heard a lot of bad hard drives so I know all too well that ka-klunk, ka-klunk sound means; the head is hitting the platter and all hope is lost.

I found a replacement drive on E-bay for about $20. I got cracked the case and put in the new drive, but it wouldn't boot up. It just stayed on the apple logo. So I took it out to try to reset the drive and tragedy strikes - I broke the connector to the click wheel! Argh! I was kind of bummed out, but oh well.

So today I was looking at the Microsoft Zune. I found a brown one (obviously their least popular color) on Buy.com for 99.99 with free shipping. It has a nice large color screen and a 30 GB drive. They also have a deal where you can save $30 when you sign up for their Visa card. So today I went to the Dark Side and ordered the Zune.

What can I say? A new iPod would set me back at least $200, so I sold out to The Man. I feel kind of sullied, but I think I'll get over it fairly quickly when I have a portable tune player again.

The Sopranos

I noticed that ClearPlay had a filter for season one of The Sopranos, so I reserved it from the library. They bleep out a quite a few words and some violent seems are skipped but none of the continuity seemed to be lost. It's a well done drama and quite entertaining.

So it starts out with mob boss Tony Soprano having a panic attack where he passes out. So he goes to a psychiatrist (rather reluctantly) and talks about his stress and then get a prescription for Prozac. He was feeling pretty unhappy because his wife and daughter and having big conflicts, and their are mob turf disputes with his mob boss uncle, and tension with his cantankerous mother who they want to put in a retirement community.

I was able to watch it and enjoy it as entertainment not without worrying too much about the twisted morality of these people (murder, immorality, theft, etc.) But at the end of episode 4 Anthony Jr. figures out that his dad is in the mafia. His sister printed out all this mafia stuff from the Internet and he stayed up reading it, then he looks over at a picture of him and his dad fishing. Then the next day at a funeral the camera pans over to him standing behind a grave peering out at his dad.

That is what made the whole thing seem really tragic. What kind of life is little Anthony going to inherit? He just figured out his dad (who he dearly loves) is a crook and a murderer. What kind of a reality is that? It makes me appreciate being born to righteous parents.

Books, asthma, fences and leaves

Yesterday Melinda, Lisette, Miles and his friend Davis went to Connie's book group at Barnes and Noble. Connie does a really nice job. It's really useful to have a source to find good new books. Lisette especially loves it; the last book they read, Maximum Ride, by James Patterson, really sparked her interest so she went ahead and read the whole series.

Melinda said she was feeling sick since she went downtown to see the symphony. After the book group she wasn't breathing well, so I sent her to see her dad. Looks like she had an asthma attack. She is feeling much better after taking Prednisone and using an inhaler.

I finally got around to staining the wood fence. Our neighbor actually owns the fence, and is very good about getting both sides of it taken care of. In April or May he started staining our side with me, and then he left the rest for me to do. He even left all the stain, a roller brush, and a paint brush. Well now that it's November I finally did it. I have dreaded doing it for for almost 6 months. I had to just walk outside grab the stuff without thinking about it. Actually it was pretty easy. Melinda and I decided that I have this deep seated rebellion about not wanting to do something that someone else tells me. Sigh. Rebellion is so taxing. It would have been so much easier to have just done it then. Oh, well.

The kids helped me rake up the neighbors lawn this morning. Melinda thought it would be good for them to do more service. Really, it's more like minimizing the disservice of our tree dropping leaves on their lawn. But the kids enjoyed it, especially jumping up and down in the trash can to compact the leaves. We took them to the back yard and spread them around the garden beds.

Daddy Daughter Day

Today was Daddy Daughter Day. Melinda took the older kids to Abravanal Hall to listen to a rehearsal of the Utah Symphony, so I took the day off to stay home with Saffy. Everyone had to get up early, but Saff and I slept in until 10:00 (how sweet it is!)

We had a good time. We read books, played piggy back, and worked outside in the garden.


It was really cool to have several hours to play with my sweet little girl.

Sing all hell

Today in church we sang the hymn "We'll Sing All Hail To Jesus' Name," which is a hymn I really love. However here in Utah we usually pronounce 'ai' the same as a soft e. Thus the following words usually sound the same: hail/hell, fail/fell, sail/sell and whale/well. So I have to try to suppress a smile everything we sing that first line. It's also very noticeable because the second verse actually has a 'hell' in it.

Regional accents and and unique speech patterns are always fascinating, and I don't see that we should change them. I'd like to thing that those details make life more interesting and I hope I didn't spoil that hymn for anyone.

Sunny Saturday

Last night Melinda and I discussed what we should do today. We came to a great consensus - nothing! Nothing but laying about and reading books. That's a great plan for a Saturday in my book. It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful crisp fall day with the warm sun pouring in the front windows.

We did do a few other things though:

• Saffron helped me dig out the Cana lillies and throw some blackened tomato plants in the trash
• Ian helped me winterize the swamp cooler
• Lisette bravely did all the dishes (about 3 sink fulls)
  
• Miles helped Melinda do the shopping at Harmons
• Miles read some of Harry Potter 7 and Lisette is reading Harry Potter 6 again
• Melinda researched the K-12 homeschool program and I read some of Melinda's books

Tomorrow is Fast Sunday. Our family is doing a special fast for Clair and Stacey's baby. They found a tumor on it's spine during an ultrasound. They are all in our prayers.

Live in the now

Wednesday I picked up a book that caught my eye in the library; "Hyper-chondriac: One Man's Quest to Hurry Up and Calm Down" by Brian Frazer. It was a very funny read. Plus, it's always so reassuring to read of someone more neurotic than myself.

This is a guy with some serious issues (milk products make him faint,) yet he tackles them with such humor and grace. Some of the measures he goes to calm himself and conquer his anger seem absurd (his knitting group was a fiasco.) However, I find Frazer's action to improve his wellness instead of feeling like a victim quite inspiring. He serves as a good reminder not take yourself too seriously and try to see the humor in our misfortunes.

He came to realize he was just rushing through everything, trying to get to what came next. Joy in life comes through living it. It's a good reminder to "live in the now" and to let tomorrow take care of itself.