Thanksgiving

Every year we make the trek to Arizona for Thanksgiving. We come for the food (our loved ones), and stay for the company (our family).

In case you were thinking food means a cornucopia of Turkey, Mashed Potatos and Stuffing, you are sadly mistaken. It actually means a straight week of Mexican food, the kind that is not offered elsewhere, especially here in Northern California.

The week was littered with many fun activities. We saw relatives that we hadn't seen in years, we played our new favorite game "Ticket to Ride" with everyone, we took rides in Grandpa Biggs souped up 67 Camero, and dragged Grandpa Skinner to the racetrack to burn a few laps.

All in all, there was much to be thankful for!

Hill Billy

The coup de grâce of this father's year was the opportunity to take his two boys to an NFL football game. Even if it was the lowly 49ers versus the dissapointing Bengals. Logan, Tommy and I made the trek with a few friends in the ward on Saturday, December 15th. We met up with my longtime friend Mike who happened to be in San Fran with his wife and friends. The traffic was a dream getting into the game, finding only 6 or 7 complete standstills in movement delaying our journey a mere 60 minutes or so. Not bad considering that we sat in our car in the parking lot for 45 minutes before moving an inch getting out of the game.

As we were short 3 tickets, I introduced my friends Bryan and Alex to the art of scalping. This is done by first locating someone in the crowd of people who looks like he just got out of San Quinton prison nearby. Rather than ask how Scott Peterson is doing these days, inquire as to the availability of tickets the gentleman has on his person. It goes something like this...."you got tickets". His response is something like "yeah, watchu lookinfo". You: "I need _ (in our case 3)". Next he offers a $ amount that is rediculous. No matter what that number is, I guarantee it is rediculous. You must cut his number in half, and then cut it in half again. He laughs, and you keep walking. That is when the negotiation begins. At the end of the day, he asked for $67 each, and we paid $20 each.

The game was very enjoyable, as the 49ers inserted their 3rd string quarterback to bring home the victory. And bring it home he did. Shaun HILL passed for 197 yards and a touchdown in his debut as the starting QB, and has begun quite a QB controversy in SF. He could have passed for more, but the 49ers opted to chew through the clock in the second half and Frank Gore ran for 138 total yards. The final, 49ers 20 Bengals 13, Scalpers $60.

I guess Bengal fan is accustomed to losing, because they were loud and proud in the face of defeat. One in particular was Billy. Billy is so confident in his own football abilities, rather than purchase an existing jersey that represented some of the stars on the field, he custom made one of his own with his name on it. Perfect for being heckled at an away game. He stands up, crowd chants "Billy Sucks, Billy Sucks" or "Sit down Billy, Sit down Billy". The constant jawwing further convinced Billy of his prowess, and he egged on the fans further. To this, some friendly 49ers fans recognized Mike and Myself in Steelers jerseys. Knowing of the bitter rivelry between Steeler and Bengal fans, and the thorough domination that the Steelers have they asked us to go put Billy in his place. Terrable towels in hand, Mike and I took on the mercenary role, and righted the situation. Billy behaved himself the rest of the game.

4 HOURS......

That's how much time we spent in the Emergency Room at Oak Valley Hospital waiting for Tommy to get some super glue on his handsome face.

Tommy was so brave and didn't cry until the doctor got the glue in his eye. So on top of having the glue on his face we then had to use eye ointment in his eye for the next four days to prevent an infection from the glue.

We hope this won't leave to bad of a scar, as this might hurt his future modeling career.

Now if we could only stop him from running into the edge of open doors and walk through the doorway instead.

We came up short!

Madison was "sick" last Monday and I didn't feel like arguing with her about going to school so I let her stay home. We did a mother-daughter day and had lunch together and then I had an appointment to get my hair cut and Madison decided that she wanted her hair cut too. She has been asking for several months to cut her hair short and I kept putting her off. Well we finally did it. I think she looks adorable and it is so much easier. Here are pictures of our new Do's:

Student Of The Month

Logan's teacher, Mrs. Brumley nominated him for student of the month. So Friday, December 7th, our whole family rolled out of bed extra early to go Cindy's (a restaurant in Escalon) for breakfast. Because of Logans hard work, our family got to eat for free and listen to his teacher say tons of nice things about Logan. He received a plaque with his name on it and 5 front of the line passes. Logan can use these passes at lunch time when the lines are long to cut in front of everyone. I told Logan he should sell those bad boys and make some sweet moola.

Only one student per month per grade is nominated for this award. Another teacher, Mrs. Gligorea, came up to Landon and I and told us that she had Logan on her list to nominate for student of the month and now she would have to change her list so Logan didn't get it twice. She said they have to rotate to be fair. I say, if he deserves it then give it to him. Easy for me to say, right? We are so proud of him and all his hard work.

Mrs. Gligorea, Logan, and Mrs. Brumley

Can I Have S'more?

For Family Home Evening Monday night we had our friends, the Stacey's, over for dinner. In keeping with our Monday night tradition we did breakfast for dinner. Jessica made pancakes and I did bacon and hashbrowns. The Staceys brought there "green machine" power wheel and there little ATV so after dinner we did some four-wheeling in our backyard. I believe it was our kids' first time on a recreational vehicle. Karli was a pro at it. She was toting the kids every where on the ATV. For dessert we built a fire and roasted marshmallows and made s'more's.

Splash Zone

Tonight was Madison's "Splash Zone" program. The whole first grade sang songs about underwater sea creatures. Madison was the cutest Polly the Parrot Fish you have ever seen. She had a little speaking part in the clip below. She is in the pink shirt. The lighting was bad, but you can hear her recite her part. At the end of her part she does a little giggle and everbody got a kick out of it.

Through a Lens

I attended the ASU v. UCLA football game this last weekend, not as a "spectator" but as a "journalist". A friend of mine is a college football writer, you can read his weekly articles and breakdowns of the top 25 each week on http://www.realfootball365.com/. Aside from his reluctance to admitting that ASU is "gods team", his articles are very insightful and entertaining. He did a write-up on the game Saturday titled "ASU holds off UCLA, 24-20".

We arrived at the game about an hour early and spent some time preparing in the media room at the base of the Rose Bowl. Todd gave me some pointers on where to position myself and about anticipating the action to prepare for the best photos. (o.k. I was nervous).

Armed with my "field pass" I left the media room to head towards the field. Wouldn't you know it, my beloved Sun Devils were walking down the same tunnell and I was able to run on the field with them. Being booed never felt so good!

For the next half hour or so, I was able to watch the teams warm up, and get some nice close up shots. It was strange standing on the sidelines and seeing how the media works. Towards the end of the game I was standing next to the ESPN reporter and his camera crew as he was discussing with the management team through his earpiece who they wanted to interview in the post-game on the field. He explained to his crew, "we're going with Carpenter". Also, for most of the 4th quarter I stood next to 12 news' own Bruce Cooper.

The highlight of the day was when Josh Barrett picked off a UCLA pass in the end zone during a drive in the 4th quarter. Being well positioned for the shot, I got a few frames of him hauling it in and then to my surprise his momentum was carrying him in my direction. I got a few more snaps of him before moving out of the way so he didn't run into me. (great training from Todd).

Tag Body Spray - Consider Yourself Warned

Whatever.

6 things about me:

1. I love being my kids dad. I'm gonna gush here, so tune-out if you've had your fill of parents bragging their children up. I've never ceased to be amazed how individually special each one of my kids are. I cherish all of my 1-on-1 activities I get to spend with each of them. Logan to me is the smartest one in the house, the dude knows absolutely everything, and he is always concerned about everyone's feelings. Karli is my little Davinci of the house, her artwork shows a level of creativity I didn't think possible in a 10 year old. I don't hang up her pictures at work cuz they belong to my child, I hang them up because they actually look good. Madison is my little communicator, she is 6 and talks like an adult. Sometimes I need a dictionary to know what she is saying. Tommy, reminds me of a little version of me. He loves coca-cola, football, and walking around the house in his underwear.

2. I love Football. NFL, College, don't care, love them both. Sun Devils on Saturdays, Steelers on Sundays (oops bishop, I mean Monday nights, errr I mean I tevo it for Tuesday night,...... all right as soon as I get home from church but I do go to church). I play football once a year during Turkey Bowl, and I can score touchdowns. Rumor has it that Reggie Bush has gamefilm of some of my moves and tries to pattern his game after mine. Sometimes you just can't stop me, you can only hope to contain me.

3. My brain stores tons of useless knowledge, kinda like Cliff Clavin from the old 80's tv show "Cheers". In a group setting I might break out the "what is Harry S. Truman's middle name?". As a quiet befalls the crowd, I answer "S, his middle name is S". To that, someone in the crowd says "your an idiot with useless knowledge". I respond "Don't hate the player, hate the game!". To any of you who deem yourselves friends, be advised I take 1/2 for being a lifeline in "Who wants to be a Millionaire".

4. I've had 3 knee surgeries, and have a cadaver ligament in my left knee. It's true, I tore my right Anterior Cruciate Ligament while serving a mission for my church in 1992, and proceeded to tear my left Anterior Cruciate Ligament while playing basketball with my brothers in-law in 1994. In order to keep my annual Turkey Bowl touchdown streak alive, I knew I had to go under the knife. Both times I had my ligament recostructed through an ACL Reconstructive surgery. The first one I had a Patella Tendon graft from my own knee, the second time I had a cadaver ligament. I lost a little off my vertical leap, but all in all I'm back to form.

5. I watch C.O.P.S and Jerry Springer. They are one and the same, and actually star the same people. Whisky Tango as Rex would refer to them. My favorite cops episode is when this Crack-Addict flags down a cop. She issues a complaint that she gave another woman $20 to buy a "rock", and got stiffed with a piece of "chalk" instead, she wanted her money back. When the cop asks the other woman for her side of the story, she calmly responds...."I don't deal drugs, I'm a prostitute" as if this was ok. It was surreal that these two women felt so comfortable offering up that they were: a. attempting to purchase crack cocain and b. that they did not deal drugs, they were in the business of exchanging sex for money. Simply Heeeelarious!

6. I converted from Optomism to Pessimism recently. I looked around at society and realized that life is for the most part pretty cruel. It seems at times like we're all ants, and some dude has a magnifying glass. Very few live a complete life without the ray coming in their direction at some point. Those who lose loved ones in war, some find out they have an incureable disease, and other tragedys that befall life. For those of us who have avoided it so far, we can only thank our lucky stars, and try to hide under a rock. What we really need to do is rally ourselves and go bite the dude with the magnifying glass.

I guess I am supposed to tag 6 people. First I want to tag Gordon B, perhaps he can tell us where the rock to hide under is. Next I'd like to tag Reggie Bush, perhaps he'll admit to us the moves he plagerizes from me. I'd also like to tag Paris Hilton, and have her answer why she didn't return any of my calls last week. I'd like to tag my lawyer to have him post some advice for my pending libel litigation for the two girls on the COPS episode. I'd like to tag Senator Larry Craig, just not anywhere near a bathroom stall. Lastly, I have to tag Brian Stacey, cuz he's the only Celebrity I know.

The rules: Player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. At the end of the post, player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and posts a comment letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read their blog for the rules.

TAG.....I'm It

This blogging tag thing is new to me. So here it goes. My Sister-in-law, Amanda, tagged me and I guess now I have to post 6 facts/habits about myself. Well here you go! For your reading pleasure:

1. Since most people don't know.......I ran a marathon (26.2 miles) in January. I have video footage to prove it and will post that another day on another post. I loved every minute of it and would do it again. And let me just say that if you make fun of people who run marathons it is because you are jealous. Seriously, it is no walk in the park, well......really it's a run in the park, but don't be jealous.

2. I love, love, love to sleep. I love taking naps. I love going to bed at night. But what I love most about sleep is my own bed. Please Do Not Disturb!!!

3. I DO NOT like to be breathed on. Please do not get close enough to me so that I feel your hot air on me. I don't know why but I just don't like it. It's annoying and it grosses me out. I know that by posting this a bunch of you freaks are going to do this just to piss me off. Be prepared to get a knee in the groin.


4. Books. Books. Books. I love to read. I will neglect my husband, kids and housework for a good book. You got any good reading recommendations? I don't read Sci-fi, but I will give anything else a try. This is what I am reading now:

5. Dead things freak me out. Dead bugs, dead animals, and dead people.......YUCK!! I can not understand for the life of me why people feel the need to have open caskets. I don't need to see the corpse. I want to remember my loved ones the way they were before they died. I don't deal well with dead anything.

6. I eat at Taco Bell almost everyday. I love it. I get the same thing every time. Bean Burrito with no cheese and a water. If you have horror stories about Taco Bell I don't want to hear it. Anyway, it won't make a difference I will still keep eating there. After all, I am certain that I have had the Hershey squirts a time or two from Taco Bell. I am addicted and I can't stop.

So that's it. And now I am supposed to tag 6 people, but I don't think I know six people who will do it. I will, however, tag Landon since we share the same blog you can check back later for his. I will also tag Julie and she can tell you all about her microwave timing issues. Jessica.....I tag you too. You can talk about all the fingers you have in 40 different pots (the busiest person I know). And lets see.....maybe I will tag Aime, since you have the whole touching the mattress issue (I always love your stories on this).

The rules: Player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. At the end of the post, player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and posts a comment letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read their blog for the rules.

All Hail "Master Chief"

Logan has become a big "halo" fan, and can't get enough of his buddy "Master Chief". (for those who don't know, Master Chief is the green guy on the XBox Halo game series). I saw this commercial for the newly released Halo 3, and it reminded me of when I was Logan's age, and was fascinated by GI Joe. Problem was, only PONG and PACMAN were on video then, so Duke (GI Joes version of Master Chief) had to be animated in my imagination only. Okay, I admit I do break off a game of Halo now and again with Logan. Boys will be boys!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjhSp7xGsMc

Steeler Nation - Escalon

A professor of Math at M.I.T. developed the following equation:

Monday Night Football + Pittsburgh Steelers = Tommy (decked in Polamalu Jersey) & Dad (in Lynn Swann Jersey) Lounging in the NFL chairs.

Here we go Steelers here we go!!!!

Steelers 38 Ravens 7

Bachin It!

I received a call from a good ole friend Mike Jones a few weeks back. Renae's away.....mice will play was his story. So Mike invites me up to his place in Truckee (20 mi. from Lake Tahoe). For those who haven't enjoyed the Jones' cabin, its a piece of heaven on earth. Needless to say, I was in!

I head up on a Friday after work, and after some pillow talk it was time to hit the sack. The next morning we break out "the beast". Beast is what Mike calls a Quad or ATV and he proceeds to tell me that we will use the beast to go trail riding. I've seen quads, and if this thing was a quad, it was on steroids. Not to mention, in typical Mike-Fashion, the thing is decked out in Black and Gold (Steeler Country Baby!).

Mike and I then proceeded to take the beast on some of the best back-country trails on top of the world in the sierras. We were gone for hours. At some points, we were carving our own trails, stopping at times to kick some wolves in the teeth, and steal bear cubs from their mommies. The highlight of the event was our ascension through our own cut trail to the top of a summit. It was obvious no one had been there in a while. The interesting thing was there were 3 survey monuments at the peak labeled "California Highway Surveying 1979". Very Cool. We won't go into the part when I almost rolled the beast and broke our necks in the process, that would detract from my "man story".

Finally........

Some good food in the Central Valley, we no longer have to eat at crappy places like Mike's Roadhouse or Tahoe Joes. For family home evening last week we went to opening night at Fuddruckers. The line was long, the computers kept crashing, but the food was well worth the wait. Oh good food.....how we have missed you. Now all we need is a Carvers, P.F. Changs, Chipotle, Daphnes, Someburros, & Mattas. But if that happens, our family in Arizona better pray for a 15 degree weather change or we may never move back!

A Visit From The Toothfairy

Did you know that a visit from the Toothfairy now pays you $3.00? It's true. Just ask Madison!

Trick or Treat Smell Our Feet......

Our Halloween festivities began early this year.


Two weeks before Halloween our ward did a Trunk or Treat at a pumkin pacth. The kids ate chili and cornbread, went on a hayride, jumped in a bounce house, played in a corn pit and got tons o' candy.

There wasn't anything spooky or scary at our house this year.

Logan was:

HARRY POTTER (again)

Karli was:

SUUUUPERRRR GIRL!!!!

Madison was:

A CHEERLEADER!

And you can't have a cheerleader with out a:

FOOTBALL PLAYER!!!

We couldn't find a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform so we settled for the 49ers.

Our friends, the Miyakawas, invited us and the Warners over for pizza and trick or treating. While we did this:

Landon, Naoki, and Rex did this:

The street the Miyakawas live on was lacking in the trick or treater department. It was peppered only here and there with little ghosts and gobblins. If you walked one street North of theirs it was packed. Although Chris Hansen , famous for Datelines To Catch a Predator, could not be seen we suspect that parents were not overly comfortable sending their children to a driveway with three fully grown men giving out free candy.

Science Camp Adventure

Logan attended Science Camp the week of October 15th-19th. We packed him up and sent him on a bus, with the rest of the 6th graders at his school, to Redwood Glen Camp in the bay area. It was his first time away from home other than spending the night at friends houses. I was very hesitant to let him go. I told my self that Logan would not be going unless Landon was able to go as a chaperon. After talking to Logan's science teacher I was informed that adult chaperons were not allowed or needed. So then my dilemma! Do we keep him home and he is the only kid in 6th grade who doesn't go or we let him go and become an independent kid. Obviously we choose to let him go and he had a blast. It was good for him and he made new friends, which was good for him since he is new to the school. When I dropped him off at the school that morning I fought back tears, again. We were waiting in front of the school and one of Logan's friends comes up to Logan and they exchange words, but I am not paying attention because I am trying to keep my head turned so Logan won't see me getting emotional. Logan taps me on the shoulder and asks if his friend can use my cell phone. I turn to look at his friend and hand him the phone and his friend is sobbing. I mean like cry hiccups and all. This is not good for a mom to see right before I send my boy on a bus with strangers. At this point I am even more emotional. I am picturing Logan at camp, lonely, wanting his family. I ask him if he is okay and he says yes I just need to call my mom. He hangs up the phone, hands it back and says my mom is on her way here. He is already home sick and the buses aren't even at the school. Our family sent letters to Logan before he left for camp so that by the time he arrived he had letters waiting for him. In the end there was no need for all my emotional-ness. Logan came home one stinky, happy kid. I think I will be more prepared for next year when Karli gets on the bus to Science Camp.

It's Like Kissing Your Sister

Logans team played on Saturday and the final score was 4-4. One of the goals was scored by non-other than Logan Skinner. He played defense the whole game and was still able to sneak in a goal for his team. It was awesome. This team was right up our alley as far as their skills are concerned. Logans team is now 5-0-1. There is no game this Saturday, Oct. 27, it is another bye-week.

29 Again

September 29th is a special occasion each year. It's the day we get to commemorate Kristin's 29th birthday. We won't tell you how many commemorative parties we've thrown.

Our friends Todd & Sue in our ward agreed to watch the kids as we spent the weekend in the bay. We went to dinner in San Francisco, visited Ghiradellis for dessert, and paid homage to some of our favorite wax-impersonations of famous people.

The next day was her anniversary of 29, and as usual in the day's festivities we started off by sleeping in, however, it was extra special this time as we had to kick the maid out as she attempted a break-in....Adios Amiga!!!!....She left. Then after a quick use of the shower, and those stinky bleached hotel towels (I swear someday I'm gonna sponsor a bill that ensures you get a fresh downey-smelling towels at a hotel, not those bleach-stinky ones that give you a visual of some fat guy named Vinny using your very towel to clean all of his lever-2000 parts). We then enjoyed the day of shopping at Stanford Mall, and finding some agreeable meals in between.

That's when the fun began. In an attempt to win the "Husband of the Year" award, I somehow convinced Kristin that she wanted to go to an ASU vs. Stanford football game on her big day. We showed up in all of our maroon and gold glory, and struggled to find our seats among the nearly 30,000 empty ones. Kristin proceeded to pull out her new book "Twilight" (for those of you like me in the dark abyss of non-readers Twilight happens to be one of the hottest books going, written by an LDS author from Glendale Arizona, and it has rapidly created a following only rivaled by the Harry Potter series). In case you were wondering, you read this last paragraph correct. Kristin indeed read a book while gods team battled on the field before her eyes. Heaven have mercy on her.

When we arrived home, Kristin was in for the surprise of her weekend. The kids, along with Todd and Sue, had each created their individual "card" for her celebration. In addition to the car she also received a skittles necklace (she loves skittles), a beaded bracelet, and a decadent chocolate birthday cake in the shape of a heart. She was blown away!

I was just glad to see that Todd (who happens to be a college football writer) included our attendance to the "game" in his weekly write-up of the top 25 teams. Todd is obviously very aware of Gods team.

It was a great weekend, but let's not loose sight that the highlight of the trip was that we got to sleep in twice, and indulged ourselves in those Hotel-Stinky-Towels. Can't wait til next year.