The Boys do love Christmas

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Homecoming - Part Deux

Here are some pics of SK and his date and his group.

The Group












The Group plus CK











A closeup
















Happy and having fun

It's Homecoming

At Provo High this weekend, and the Boosters have been busy...

Should you be around for the game, stop by and say hello, and I'll give you a "sweet sticker" for your car window (or other locale of your choice)... designed by moi - see below. You could also check out some of our other handiwork in the banners and apparel arenas - and you'll wind up wanting a sweet shirt - you know you will.

Also - SK is venturing forth on his first foray into the date dance scene with some of his football buddies - pics to follow in a post tomorrow.

"Oh hail Provo High, to thee our hearts will e'er be true!..."

Another tagging opportunity

Hey Jude posted a funny one today, and since I read it whilst at lunch, I thought it would be fun to do the exercise myself. I must confess I thought it was pretty fun, so I'm posting my results.

The game plan is to google your name plus the word needs as in "Jake needs" and then list the top 10 results (or perhaps in some cases the top 10 family blog friendly results).

Doing the exercise I got:

Jake needs...
1 - To go!
2 - To stop telling us how d$@! good it is
3 - Help with his tight underwear
4 - Your support
5 - To lay the smack down on these guys
6 - A home ASAP
7 - To beware of fostering dependency in those people
8 - To get rid of the messy mop on his head and maybe go for a short, spiky do.
9 - To appreciate what is good for him and soothes his nerves
10 - Extra attention

If you've time to give it a whirl, post back your results in the comments (remembering to censor)

Ta,
- Jake

Brevity is the soul of it

The shortest story attributed to Hemingway — “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” — required only six words. Well, Papa would have been proud of One Sentence, the website that encourages other, aspiring writers to top his achievement.

Check it out here:
http://www.onesentence.org

Tagged

I've never been very good at responding to a tag, but I'm giving it a go.

Tagged by the glad housewife - here are my 6 unspectacular quirks (do the spectacular quirks come in a separate tag???)

1. Please don't leave the milk out. I hate it, and I swear the milk does not taste the same after having been left out. Even once it returns to the proper temperature there is some lingering mal-sapidity afterward. Oh and by the way - this quirk is not just for milk in my home, or for milk that I might drink - just ask the Vances - I would return their milk to the fridge for them on many a visit.
2. I read several books at once (well not at once, but I'll start several before I finish any one of them).
3. Metaplasms (the non-biological kind) make me laugh and at the same time I can't help but mentally lower my perceived IQ of the person who utters it.
4. When I'm out and about and see really interesting/odd individuals I mentally (and sometimes verbally) assign them to a "team", e.g. Hey Q - see that girl over there - she's on your team. I recognize this is not nice.
5. I'm a tie freak. I own far too many, and La Reine is quite sure I've spent far too much money on them as well. Same with watches.
   
6. Since I was a child, I can waste literally hours in bookstores, office supply stores, cooking supply stores and the like - basically anyplace that sells paper, pens, notebooks, books or any kitchen/chef related items etc. And at the end of it all I feel like I've only been there for 10 minutes.

I know I'm supposed to now tag others - but perhaps later.

Preparing for Sharing Time

It's my turn in the Primary again this Sunday. I always, always just take something right out of the monthly Friend when I prepare - print some handout for the kids, and talk, talk, talk...

Any recommendations on an engaging activity or two - 3-7 year olds in one group, 8-11 in another on "Heavenly Father, are you really there?"



Ta,
- Jake

2 posts in one day? Are you kidding?

The newest addition to the fam - Titan.
Boomer - we're gonna miss you sweet boy!



















Baby girl with Ms. Law (in our home it is a requirement amongst the teenage set when saying her name to follow it immediately with the words "she's so fine".)

Okay - I get it

It's been far too long since my last update.

To bring everyone up to speed - SK does have a small tumor in his brain. However it appears to be totally benign, and is not a concern at this point to the doctors. They want to see him again fairly regularly for the next couple of years so that they can monitor any possible changes and they gave us a list of symptoms to watch out for. There was also some advice given to SK not to use this information for evil, e.g. "Hey girlsnamehere it's okay that you're not going out with me, I just have a brain tumor and who knows if you'll get another chance, but that's okay." At any rate, it is a great blessing and relief to know that we don't have to fret and stress over this for now.

TK is doing well on the mish. You can see (usually) weekly updates on the blog we maintain for him at right.

Football is fully underway and all the boys are playing on at least one team and our lives are crazy and hectic and fabulously full of football. And of course we're rising and shouting all over the place - especially last Saturday (here you go UCLA - your first shutout in 83 years, courtesy of BYU and the Mt. West).

Baby girl is dancing several times a week, and has added a hip hop class to the regimen. PS - she loves activity days with the Glad Housewife and has a great time playing with friends here and there, and mostly is excited about going to her brothers games.

The oldest is also doing well, and is on again in his (mostly) on again / off again relationship with Ms. Jess. He told me the other day he'll be going with her to Houston for Thanksgiving. Do I really have a child old enough to be meeting the parents? I suppose I must.

I'll really try to update more regularly moving forward, but that's all the time I have for today.

And Hey Jude - a McDonald's Happy Meal is neither Happy nor a Meal - discuss.

You know it's a bad day...

When you drive into a restaurant...

Or when your son's doctor calls and let's you know that you need a neuro consult for the lesion/mass in his brain.

And we've been so hoping that the spot on the CT was nothing to worry about, that the MRI would confirm that, and we'd all breathe a happy sigh of relief.

It may be nothing to worry about, but we're worried nonetheless.

Amy Winehouse without the beehive or the baggage

Lovin' Duffy on Music Monday

Mercy


Syrup and Honey


Warwick Avenue


Rockferry

And a little one shall lead them

Congrats Ryley! Way to go!

High on Y Mountain Top

A testimony meeting after a themed hike (the pathway may not be easy, but the destination is worth it) four quick talks along the way, and a fireside provided by a gorgeous setting sun - oh yes, and dear Sister Brenda.

Thank you dear youth for helping me along my path.

Once upon a time in Mexico - part Dos

Though of course there are many great things about our trip - the most exciting event was making a wrong turn near the border on our way out of the country...

I know. I should have taken a few minutes to review the map and the directions for getting back to the border. I didn't.

I'm still not sure exactly how I missed the sign or the turn or whatever. We were moving along quite nicely, sign after sign pointing to San Diego I5/I805, and then no more signs... I drove on for a few minutes thinking perhaps we were still okay, and then I looked at La Reine, and she looked back, and we both said - "I don't think we're going the right way."

I turned on my cell phone, and called up the GPS and handed the map screen to La Reine who watched for a minute and confirmed that we were definitely not headed in the right direction... Crap.

La Reine's younger brother and his family were with us - in their own van, following along valiantly. (Yes, not only was I losing myself, but others as well.) And we were all headed merrily back into Tijuana toward Otay - another border crossing 30 miles East - not what we wanted for sure.

We radioed back to the inlaws that we were going the wrong way, and that we were going to try to navigate back to the right path, so to stay close!

La Reine was navigating, and indicated that I should take the next exit she thought, and sure enough there was a sign indicating San Diego etc. So I took the turn, and BIL followed along right behind. And right behind him?

A police officer on a motorcycle.

I hear the siren and see the flashing lights.

We pull over and he talks to BIL for a minute, and then pulls up and talks to me. He tells us we were speeding on the exit (limit 45kmh ~20 mph) and that we need to pull up ahead to the side of the road so he can cite us. Crap!

We pull over as indicated. BIL gets out of his car and comes up to meet the cop as he approaches on La Reine's side of the car. We roll her window down, and she begins to cry. The policeman asked where we were headed, we told him we were just trying to make it back to San Diego and the states. He looks at our licenses and registration. He tells us that we're going to have to follow him to the police station so that we can pay our fine, in cash. We ask how much - $1560 each (my heart stops) then he mentions - it's pesos... So a mere $143 dollars per vehicle. I look at BIL and ask if he has that much cash left - no, of course not. I do, but I don't have enough for him, so we ask the policeman if there is a bank near the police station. Of course - we just have to park our cars in the impound lot, and walk a couple of blocks through one of the worst sections of tijuana to the ATM - remove money in broad daylight, and walk back through those couple of blocks to the police station to pay the fine. Or, if we don't have the money, we can see the judge and get some papers that will allow us to pay the fine once we return home. How long will that take I ask - he replies that it depends on the courts. I also infer here that while we wait - it won't be in the lap of luxury - and my wife and children, and BIL's wife and children will be waiting right there with us in the police station - no thanks.

Eventually senor policeman says that maybe, in order to save us time and hassle of course, we could pay just one of the fines, to him, right there, in cash, and he could even take us to the border. At this point - I jump all over that. Hand him $140 american dollars (cervezas y tequilla para usted y para sus amigos!!!), and he proceeds to jump on his bike and ride away... We believe he's left us at this point - but he was waiting at the next corner, and true to his word, led us right to the border.

BIL was mad after the fact. He says, and I agree, that there was no way we were speeding, and we should have fought it... I remind him that you don't fight the police or the judges in Mexico, and that we were lucky to get away as we did.


Adios senor policia!

Once upon a time in Mexico - Part Uno

For spring break this year we planned a trip to Mexico.

As we prepared for the trip, I remember having feelings of trepidation, after all I was taking my family south of the border way, and I hadn't been there myself for more than 25 years, and I was driving my own car, and I was worried about getting lost, getting run into, going to jail, losing one or more of my children, and similar thoughts galore.

Silly I know, and as it turns out - totally unfounded (or very nearly as you'll hear).

We simply had a marvelous time!

We traveled to Rosarito Beach, Baja CA - roughly 25 miles south of Tijuana and stayed in our timeshare right on the coast.

Some pics:













It was great fun for all of us - I took about 700 pictures, so can't post them all, but I'll continue to post a few more in subsequent updates...

Wait until you hear about how much fun we had finding our way back into the U.S.! (remember that comment about staying out of jail? by the skin of my teeth friends, by the skin of my teeth...)

Improve Anywhere Anyone?

I wonder if we could stage something around here?

http://improveverywhere.com/2008/03/09/food-court-musical/

Book Tagged by Compulsive Writer

Compulsive tagged everyone who wanted to play today to participate in the book tag.

The rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog.
5. Tag 5 people.

Here's my line:

"Later researchers concluded that the Dutch word was an import from French, and the entire structure collapsed."

- From "Word Origins ...and how we know them."









The fun thing about this for me is that the quote would have been radically different if I'd been home vs. at work when I ran with this one. Or, more specifically, it would have been different depending on which room of my house I was in. I tend to be a rather voracious reader, and books are scattered all over the house. But the more important question I'm sure you're asking is who reads books like this anyway - I'm a freak, I'll admit it...


Also, please note that I had to use the second closest book, because the first closest book, "Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes" had only 2 sentences on page 123. I was tempted to use the second sentence anyway because it was sweet, reading "There is another existentialist puzzle buried in this cartoon - namely, 'Who the hell do those ducks think they are?'", but I wasn't sure I should cheat like that.







Feel free to take the challenge yourself if you'd like, that's how the fun expands. And thanks CW for the indirect tag.

- jake

If you're happy and you know it...

On Friday last, La Reine and I were blessed to be able to participate in the sealing of a sweet young woman whom we've known for many, many years (at one time long ago she was the childhood betrothed of our TK, but as we apparently don't have arranged marriages any more, that clearly didn't work out, but I digress).

Elder Joe J. Christensen, emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy was the sealer, and he gave marvelous counsel to all of us there that day. Of course, I took the opportunity to thank him and called him by the wrong name - ouch.

Given my reflection on Elder Christensen, and his wonderfully happy and graceful advice, together with his quick and happy forgiveness of my social ineptness, I quote here from an address he gave which I've always loved. Feel free to take his challenge. I did again, and now I'm smiling.

- jake

"Take a sheet of blank paper and write on it at random those things for which you are most grateful. Write whatever your most important blessings are in whatever order they come to your mind.

After writing the list, on another sheet of paper put those blessings in order of priority. What is your most important blessing? The second most? And so on.

On my list, I had to go down a long way before I came to any blessing that could be bought for money. Our most important blessings are without price. Blessings such as faith, testimony, and family are the kinds of blessings in defense of which, if necessary, we would be willing to give our mortal life.

Of course, chief among all the gifts for which we should be thankful is our Heavenly Father’s gift to us of His Son. As we read in scripture, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The Doctrine and Covenants teaches us that “Jesus Christ your Redeemer … so loved the world that he gave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the sons of God” (D&C 34:1, 3).

Father gave. Jesus gave. And we must give. There is no other blessing for which we should be more grateful than that of being recipients of the blessings that come through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Add all of these blessings to your list. Then, on those days when you may not feel like smiling, take out your list and read it and recognize how blessed you are. You will find it easy to smile and to be of good cheer. You will also find it easier to be grateful."

Just for Fun

Loved these enough to share...

Debate #1:



Debate #2

Chillin 2

J&C

Chillin' at MB20

Q&T

mid-life reflection

Once again it’s been a while since I’ve written. I’ll confess that I’ve been in a strange state of mind lately. As Ferris Bueller once said – “Life moves pretty fast, If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” It has seemed to me lately that I’ve been less observant than I should be, and I wonder what I’m missing.

Partly I think it’s been that TK is gone, and though we’ve adapted to that in the main, there is still a visceral longing that lurks in the back of my spirit somewhere whenever I see “TK’s” car, or wear one of the ties he left behind. It’s not really a tangible thing, but the feeling of loss lingers. I think we’re all hoping that it’ll be different once he actually leaves Provo, but a big part of me doesn’t want it to be different. In fact, one of the fears he and I share is that somehow through the process of changing and growing he’ll do over the next 22 months, that our relationship will change in a way neither of us wants. On the surface I know this is a baseless fear, but still, aren’t most of our fears rather baseless? Doesn’t make them any less real.

Today SK and CK both left their wallets at home, and SK also needed his knee brace for an alumni wrestling match this afternoon. I’m working in Orem today, so grabbed their forgotten items on my way out the door to work, and drove them down to Provo High at lunch time to drop them off. I swung across the street to Costa Vida to grab some lunch for La Reine and me, and while there saw three of TKs friends in line. I saw them before they saw me and I watched their easy banter and fun – and that darn longing swung back in full force – I missed my boy.

MT was one of the friends there and a young lady in line behind me asked him for a hug – which he readily gave, along with a kiss, whereupon MT looked up and saw me smiling. “Coach” he yelled, “good to see you – how is TK?” I replied that TK was fine, and then I asked MT for a hug… I’ve never done that before, but bless his heart, he came over and wrapped me up, then he looked at me, and said – “but I’m not giving you a kiss”.

I smiled, he smiled, and he moved back over to CC and TN. I looked at these fine young men, themselves preparing to leave to serve the Lord, and I was grateful for them, and for their friendship of TK and of all of our family through many years, but mostly, I was grateful for a hug from a 19 year old young man who could, for a brief moment, stand in the place of TK, and provide an easing of that longing for a few moments.

Enough of that I suppose, perhaps it helps to get it out on "paper"…

This weekend we’ll attend two more farewells for some of our other boys, those friends of TK, and of mine, and I’ll have the opportunity to once again affirm those reasons why we send our sons and daughters out into the world to serve the Lord.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not all melancholy or anything, life if good, most times even great! How could it not be with PHS winning state again this year?

I know, I know – but that’s why it’s called jake rambles, n’est-ce-pas?

- jake

Should you be in Logan this weekend

And if you're interested in the arts, check out La Reine's cousin Steve at his latest opening.












"Painter Stephen Teuscher is the first artist whose work will be exhibited at the 700 S. Main St. facility. The gallery opening takes place between 6 and 10 p.m. this Friday and the public is invited."

More info here.

Way to go Steve! We're looking forward to seeing you soon.

Broken 2? Are you kidding me?

SK was ice skating, when all of a sudden he needed to avoid a collision. Next thing he knew, mr. Nose met mrs. Ice.

SK and others at Provo High

Speak about their feelings on President Hinckley

SK is about 1/2 way through in the blue sweater, and again near the end. "Go forth to serve with honor" indeed!

Broken?

Not too clear from this picture, perhaps the x-rays will tell us...

The last month

Has been simply crazy.

Christmas went very well, the New Year - excellent too.

Then the real countdown to sending off TK began. When he would parrot how many days were left, La Reine would tear up and tell him to be quiet, and at times, so would I.















The day prior to his farewell we baptized baby girl - it was a fantastic experience, but quite a milestone - our last to be baptized. It was great to have all the kids there, and we had a fantastic day.

Then on Sunday, TK gave his talk in Sacrament meeting which was excellent, and it was a thrill for me to be his companion speaker, and also to have him stand in the circle as we confirmed his sister a member of the church he was going out to preach.

The after-party (sorry President) was also fantastic.











































On Tuesday TK was set apart as a missionary, and received some fantastic council from all members of the new Stake Presidency, and a celestial blessing from Pres. B. - Thanks Pres. B.

On Wednesday we took him to the missionary training center, and shed many tears of happiness and many as a result of the difficulty.

We've already received a letter from him, and he is doing exceptionally well - which helps us do much better too.

For more on TK and his experiences on the mish - check out my newest blog - TK on the Mish.

Since Wednesday, it has felt a bit like recovery from major surgery, but things are returning to a sense of normalcy.

Look for more frequent updates here moving forward, and thanks gentle readers for checking back on occasion.

with love and best wishes

-jake