Big Girl Bed

For the past several weeks we've been preparing for the co- habitation of Kennedy's room. Even though she's been unaware of the 'life change' she's about to undergo, it's been in the works ever since we got Alex. Of course we've talked with DeDe about how Alex is going to share her room with her, but we knew we had to do something to get her excited about giving up some personal space. The ultimate bribe came yesterday - a big girl bed.

It isn't so much of a bribe as it was a necessity. We need Kennedy's crib for Alex, so the best way to get her out was to give her something better. I think our gift had it's desired effect. Last night she told Tara, "Alex can have my crib, I want to sleep in my Big Girl Bed."

Order Up!

In addition to the conference in St. George, I'm also down South this weekend for a GPS traning at Valley High School in Orderville. Where's Orderville you're asking yourself? It's about 15 miles east of Zion National Park. It's acutally a pretty cool drive from New Harmony, as you'll go through several small local towns to get to Zion. One of my favorite local towns in Southern Utah has to be LaVerkin. Where else can you find a town with such an unique personality? A few years ago LaVerkin wanted the US out of the United Nations, with part of their complaints concerning the right to bare arms. It's apparent that some members of town don't agree with the city council...

After reading about the business district of LaVerkin, we continued on into the park. Fortunately, we didn't have to pay the entrance fee (now $25 for 5 days) since we were simply passing through the park. In fact, you almost have to travel across the park in order to reach the towns on the other side. The best part about driving to the east side of the park is the tunnel. A 1.1 mile turnnel cut right into the rock so you cross to the other side. Very cool, and a bit surreal to pass through about 5 minutes of darkness in the middle of so much beauty.

We arrived in Orderville and conducted our little GPS training for about 12 teachers. It was a lot of fun to explore the grounds surrounding the school and see a school that reminded us of a simpler time. My dad commented that it brought him back to his high school, with a graduating class of 40. A school where "everyone knew everyone else." In fact, you could see the remnants of the previous graduating classes, as the school tradition is to paint your class year of the rock landscape behind the school. I'm sure the Sierra Club isn't too fond of the scenery, but it was pretty cool to see the art work dating back to the 40's. It was a fun day and a great chance to get out and see different parts of Utah.

In the Heart of Dixie

It's always a good thing when you're asked to train to St. George in February. Especially when there's a huge snow storm in Salt Lake. The only problem comes in driving through the snow in order to get down South. We came down on Friday and, truth be told, it wasn't that bad. There was some light snow from Beaver (is the weather always bad in Beaver?) down to Cedar City, but it certainly wasn't a white knuckle situation.

Kennedy and Alex had fun getting outside again. Yesterday we went into St. George and spent the day playing. Most of the afternoon we hunted for geocaches, but still managed to find time for a stop at the playground. You always need to find a good park for the kids after being cooped up in the car. Of course, Kennedy loved the slide, over and over and over....

The rest of us enjoyed the nice weather and found a ton of caches. It's kind of fun to find an uncharted area with lots of easy hides. Ruaniteit (Ross), Harmony Al (Dad), and crimson_ crew (Tara and me) had a respectable 16 finds yesterday. In fact, Ross found his 500th geocache! Only 250 more to catch up with the crew. All in all, it was a great day outside. The only things that stopped us was darkness and trip to Golden Corral. What a way for my parents to celebrate their 39th anniversary!

What's up with Alex

In the past week we've had a couple of milestones and one non-milestone with Alex. Last Friday we crossed an important barrier in the quest to adopt little Alex. In order to adopt a child they need to be in your care for 6 months. Well, that milestone came and went on the 16th. The non-milestone is that we weren't able to add Alex to the family on Friday. If there's one thing I've learned in dealing with the state it's that nothing happens quickly. I know it sounds like a cliche, but the government takes their own sweet time in getting anything done. Earlier today we finally heard from our case worker about what's going on. Nothing.

Long story short. We may be able to adopt Alex at some point in the next six weeks. We still don't have an attorney, a date in court, the proper paperwork, all the things that seem superfluous to what we do have: willing parents, a beautiful baby boy, an agreeable judge. It makes no sense, but that's life. Hopefully we'll adopt Alex sometime in April.

The other milestone in Alex's short life was his 7th month birthday came and went this week. It's crazy to think how quickly time is passing by. He came to us as a tiny, little baby and is turning into a chubby, energetic toddler. He's not as quiet as he used to be, but it's so much fun to hear his little voice and enjoy his emerging personality. Hang in there Alex, we'll make it permanent some time this year!

Something's Fishy

For the past month you've read about our attempts to help Kennedy work out some basic childhood issues: Sleeping, Hitting, the Potty. The "Big Girl Chart" has met with moderate success and DeDe's rewards have been modest. Still, we've waited to issue some real rewards until she turns the corner in any of the areas. Our idea was to give her a pet fish once she met a real goal. What could be better? She would love the fish, it would encourage her to continue to meet goals, she could learn the responsibility of caring for the fish, someday we'd learn about life and death - it would be a great thing. So, we've waited for Kennedy to reach the "fish mark." Until Monday that is.

Monday afternoon we were out with the Duncan's to celebrate Chris' birthday (happy 26th Chris!). After going to lunch Tara and I wanted to go shopping for a "Big Girl Bed" for Kennedy. However, taking two kids around to store after store didn't seem very effective. Charlene and Jess were nice enough to volunteer to watch DeDe while we went shopping for bunkbeds. For the next hour we were away from our little girl. Once our search had ended for the day we headed up to Char's house to save them from Kennedy. Imagine our surprise when we pulled into the driveway to discover the cars were gone. The only one home was Chris.

"Kennedy went with Jess and Dakota for a ride. I think they went to the pet store."

Of course they went to the pet store. Well, you'll never guess what they brought back from the pet store. Meet Ariel, the Japanese fighting fish. Dede really loves the fish; she wakes up every morning asking to feed Ariel. So, in spite of our original plan, we're now the owners of a tiny fish. I guess we'll have to find another reward for the "Big Girl Chart."

Book Review: The Audacity of Hope

Last night I was up until 2 o'clock finishing my first birthday read, The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. I think that fact alone speaks volumes about what I think of this book. For the past couple of months I've tried to find out as much as I could about the Senator from Illinois. I've been to his website, watch all kinds of videos, listened to speeches, even added a ticker about him to my Google Alerts. Reading his book gave me a greater insight into Mr. Obama and what he stands for.

The book gives a basic overview on the life of the fledgling senator. Obama discusses the demands of the job, his successes and failures, his goals, and an overview on his views of the country - where's it at and where it is headed. I think the title is well chosen - The Audacity of Hope. How can we be so bold as to have hope at a somewhat bleak time in America? Obama gives us cause and encourages readers to follow a new idea in American politics.

It will be interesting to see where the next two years takes Barack Obama. Maybe he'll fade into obscurity as the latest star of the moment. After reading his book, I hope he'll continue to share his "common sense" with all of us and, hopefully, he'll stay in Washington a long time - as President of the United States. How's that for the Audacity of Hope.

Thoughts on Trolley Square

This entire week the Salt Lake community has been trying to figure out what really happened on Monday. Like most, we were at home watching the Jazz game and, like usual, I was channel surfing during the commercials. As we came across Channel 2 there was a breaking story that shots were being fired at Trolley Square. After seeing that headline, we didn't make it back to the Jazz game. Even though the details were sketchy for the first couple of hours, I couldn't help but watch and listen to the accounts as witnesses discussed the gunman's rampage through the mall.

We didn't know any of the victims that night, but it seems like everyone around here knows someone who was at Trolley Square on Monday. On Wednesday I talked to Lauren,a guy who works down the hall from me. He was eating at the Desert Edge when the shots rang out. As he and a friend ran to get back to their vehicle they passed one of victims, dead in the parking lot. I can't imagine how awful that must have been! Thursday night, Trolley Square came up with my college students and Samantha told us her account of working at the Sharper Image on Monday night. She said they heard the shots and then all barricaded themselves in the storage room, using the office safe to block the door. Unbelievable!

It's just so weird to think about all the times we've shopped/eaten at Trolley Square. Anyone could have been there on Monday. Not that we go there often, but I usually eat there twice a year or so. I guess the real issue is how the world is changing. I know that Salt Lake is changing and that events like this, although infrequently, will happen again. I just hope and pray that we can reach out to the outcasts in our midst. Who knows, maybe a kind word can sooth a troubled heart.

Super Bowl Hangover

I know the game was almost two weeks ago, but I just received a classic email about the cultural phenomenon know as the Super Bowl party. I'm curious which profile I most identify with. Currently, I'm probably the Fantasy Football Guy (even though I hate to admit it!). I can definitely say I've been to parties with about each person described below.

Who's Who at Your SuperBowl Party

The Super Bowl is really only half about the game. The other half is about seeing how much food and booze you can shove down your gullet before midnight rolls around, and having a free pass to show up to work hung-over the next day. Many folks agonize over throwing or attending the perfect party, but agony is futile because, really, all Super Bowl Parties feature the same things: lots of nachos, lots of beer and the following infuriating cast of characters.

The “Tomorrow Should Definitely Be a National Holiday” Guy

In this tool's view, a day when everyone's hung-over and unproductive would fit perfectly on the federal holiday ledger between the day in mid-January commemorating civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and the day in mid-February commemorating Presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

The Guy Who's in It for the Commercials

He won't pay attention to the game, but he'll shoot to the TV like a laser when the commercials come on. He'll spend the first few minutes after each commercial break—important plays or not—analyzing what everyone else just saw, routinely mentioning that “that last ad was pretty good, but not even close to the George Costanza Rold Gold ad in ‘98 or the P-Diddy Pepsi truck ad in ‘04.” This guy also probably loved the Bud Bowl and will get really quiet and attentive during the ads for E.D. drugs.

The Guy Who Hasn't Paid Attention to the NFL in a Decade

He won't be able to get over the fact that the 49ers aren't in it this year and may ask if Reggie White or Walter Payton still play football. If you're bored, it's fun to make football references to him all night so he feels like he is some sort of eunuch-like non-man.

The Guy Who's in a Squares Pool at Work

In a squares pool, everyone throws in a buck or two, and a couple people walk away with an extra 50 bucks. It's a friendly way to keep everyone involved, but there will always be one overly intense guy who shows up to your party with his own squares chart from work, where he bought a $250 square and—as he'll be certain to remind you—could win a ton of money if the AFC team manages a field goal and a safety, and the NFC squad gets a touchdown and a two-point conversion. You'll be able to spot him as the one furiously shouting, “Why the hell didn‘t they go for two?” when the AFC squad scores a TD to go up 14-3.

The Football Pro Guy

Not necessarily a fan of either team, the Football Pro will spend the whole party watching the game on one of the smaller TVs on the fringe, “because I don't want to miss a play and I can't hear the announcers in that other room.” He's likely to be a meatier fellow, probably will spend halftime reminiscing about high school football and will constantly use phrases like “fade hook route” and “flanker-back.” He'll also let is slip at some point that he would have made it to the pros if not for an unfortunate knee injury in high school. Which may be true. Although the fact that he's 5-foot-8 with short, stubby sausage fingers probably hurt his chances too.

Obnoxious Girl Who Cheers Way too Hard

Moderately attractive but not actually hot, she'll be decked out in full regalia of whichever team the guy she wants to bang likes. She'll celebrate a relatively innocuous first quarter field goal like it's just clinched the win, and will instantly show a disturbing amount of concern if a player on her adopted team is slow getting up. It'll be clear that she was molested by her father during NFL games as a child, and should be pitied, not reviled.

The “Is it Cool If I Smoke in Here?” Guy

Even though people will be politely smoking in the backyard, at least one guy will pop up during a semi-important moment in the game and ask, “I don't want to miss this drive—is it cool if I smoke in here?” The answer, as always, is an awkward “I guess,” although it's definitely not cool at all.

The "Line Just Moved Half-Point” Guy

Likely to befriend the Guy Who's in a Squares Pool at Work, this guy will bet on everything and let everyone know it. He'll lose $150 on the opening coin toss, but hit nice on his 6:1 wager that a tight end will produce the first score. He'll be really concerned that the third-quarter line moved a half-point during halftime, but he'll look real good on the over, so he won't mind laying that extra half-point. He also threw down $10 bucks at 850,000:1 that a hurricane would hit Pro Player Stadium during the game…you know, just for the hell of it.

The Little Kid

He's there because his parents were too cheap to hire a babysitter for the night. And while they brought their kid, they probably forgot to bring the chips and beer they signed up for. So while it's not really the kid's fault that he is there to keep sticking his hand in the pretzels after picking his nose, if he does it again he's getting cracked upside the head with a beer bottle.

The "Told You So” Guy

This guy will spend the entire game informing everyone that everything that he predicted would come to pass has happened. Did he? Probably not. But who knows – no one has listened to the sh** that constantly flows from this guy's mouth in years.

The “Favored Team Apparel Guy”

You can spot this guy immediately upon entering the party – he's decked out in logoed apparel of the team favored to win the game. The stuff is so new it looks like he may have picked it up at the mall on the way over to the party. The tags may even still be attached. You can attempt to call the guy out on his duplicity: “Hey, weren't you a Steelers fan last year and a Patriots fan the year before that?” But he'll just mumble something about having an aunt who lives in his new favorite team's city which is why he's rooted for them since he was a kid. It's all bullsh**, of course, but at least the guy isn't completely lacking in loyalty. Which, he'll be sure to tell you, is why he still lives with his parents.

The "Fantasy Football Guy”

Fantasy Football Guy spends the entire game pointing out to all who would hear which players were on his fantasy football team this year and in years past. “Oh, man. Great touchdown by Joseph Addai there. I wish he would have done that more for my fantasy team this year.” Hey, buddy, if you like fantasies so much, here's one for you: we all hope you're killed by a drunk driver on the way home tonight.

Happy Valentime's Day

It's the season for love and of course, what better way to celebrate "Valentime's" Day, (as Kennedy would say) than decorating sugar cookies. On Monday, we spent the day with Candace and Heather and all the kids making sugar cookies for friends and family. The finished product ended up with Kennedy using about a half a bottle sprinkles on one cookie.

She didn't have much interested in decorating with anything but the sprinkles. Don't worry, we made a second batch without prodding kid fingers to give to the friends.

Jared was amazed that it took us all day to make a couple of batches of cookies. I assume that he has never tried to bake and decorate cookies with six kids under the age of 4 running around the house, had a picnic, played on the swingset and kept them entertained and mostly uninjured the entire day.
Valentine's Day was a fun day. We delivered Valentine's to Kennedy's friends in the neighborhood and then Aunt Char came to visit for a few minutes. She brought some fun treats and at one point, Kennedy announced that she needed more presents. She's not spoiled at all! Alex was happy with his new toys, but he seems to be happy 99% of the time anyway.


We spent the evening at Evan and Alicia's house, eating heart shaped pizza and watching the kids open more presents from Nana and Papa. I guess Kennedy got what she wanted. She absolutely loved Valentine's Day. Shes been wishing everyone a happy Valentine's Day for the past 2 days. It's been so fun to see her get so excited about a holiday.

I thought Valentine's Day was about romance, but I think once you have kids, it's all about them, no matter the holiday. Maybe Jared and I can go out this weekend and actually celebrate Valentine's Day.

Who do you Love?

In honor of Valentine's Day I found a great video in which a person asks drive-thru attendants what they loved and why.



I love Cafe Rio pork salads. Why? The house dressing has to be one of the greatest things ever invented. I think I would actually drink the dressing if my wife would let me. It's weird to think that I'm addicted to a salad, but I would chose this as my last meal, anytime.

So what do you love? Why?

Taking Turns

Normally, I would say taking turns is a wonderful thing for a brother and sister to do. We've really worked to develop a sense of selflessness between Alex and, in particular, Kennedy. I don't think last night was what we had in mind. About 2 am Alex woke up and spent the next 30 minutes crying and screaming. Finally before 3 he fell asleep and guess who woke up - yep, Kennedy. She then proceeded to cry about wanting her milk for the next 30 minutes or so. Around 5 am it was back to Alex. And at 6 am Kennedy finished off the night.

I don't know if we're doing the right thing by encouraging them to deal with their own issues during the night. I know that's it pretty rough on the sleeping patterns for everyone involved. Still, once their basics needs have been met (food, diapers, etc.) I don't want the kids to feel that they can't get to sleep without Mom (and sometimes Dad). I just hope Tara doesn't want to learn from the kids example and take turns tonight.

Movie Review: Freedom Writers

For my birthday Tara took me to see the movie Freedom Writers. I have to say I've been looking forward to the film for quite a while. About 7 years to be exact. While I was still teaching I came across the Freedom Writers' story while watching Good Morning America one day. I was immediately hooked and bought the book later that afternoon. If you can see the film, great - but make sure you take the chance to read the book. It's so much better. I couldn't believe the narratives in the book. Each student had met with so much heartache, that the chance to write their story must have been cathartic, to say the least.

After reading the novel, I changed a good portion of my curriculum to include journal writing as part of every class. Each of my students was required to purchase a journal and the first 15 minutes of every class was spent writing down their stories. We may not have had a "Freedom Writers" moment, but my students really looked forward to writing everyday. I did to. For me, it was the first time since my mission that I had written in journal 3 or 4 times a week. It's fun to look back at some of the things that went on during that time. Buying a house, trying to get pregnant, 9/11 were all captured as part of my journal.

Besides writing every day we also read stories about other teenagers writing journals and telling their stories. The Diary of Anne Frank, Zlata's Diary, and yes Freedom Writers Diary became standard texts for my class. Those books were awesome to get kids thinking about the impact our life stories can have on other people. It was a neat project and it's one of the things I miss about being out of the classroom.

Still, there's some closure to the story from my current position. Every year I go to a national conference on technology and two years ago Erin Gruwell, the teacher from Freedom Writers was one of the keynote speakers (not sure the tie-in, but who cares!). I made sure I got to her keynote early, and being a total nerd, I sat on the front row. A few minutes before the presentation, guess who sat in the empty chair next to me - you guessed it, Erin Gruwell. It was fun to tell her the impact her story had on the lives of my former students and on my teaching. She thanked me and seemed genuinely touched to know another success story from the Freedom Writers.

Was that even a movie review? Sorry.

Mom's Long Day

I've been a bit hesitant to write about the past month for my mom, but I feel like the time is right. Roughly one month ago my Mom noticed an abnormality in one of her breasts, the left one. It seems as though some tissue had begun to calcify. No one was quite sure what to make of the tissue, but after multiple mammograms, it was determined there was small cancerous tissue in the left breast. So, Mom had two lumpectomies to remove the tissue. Each time the oncology report came back with traces of cancerous tissue still remaining.

So, yesterday my mom went into LDS Hospital at 5:00 am for a scheduled mastectomy of her left breast. It was the only way to be sure all the cancer could be removed and stop anything from spreading into other areas of her body. It was early enough in the whole process that a mastectomy provided the best chance for the future. After about two hours or so, the operation was deemed a success.

I went to the hospital around 7:00 am, just after they had wheeled my mom into surgery. Much of the day was spent hanging out with family. I think the highlight of the day was as they took my mom up to her room. Dad was trying to decide whether or not to ride in the elevator with her. At the last second he hopped into the elevator, just as it closed - on him! As the doors closed, Alicia and I heard an "Ohh," and a "Well." Turns out he was ok, but for a moment there we thought we might need a double room! He must have recovered though for the rest of the day was spent in his normal pose....

I Pity the Poor Fool...

Ward ball has it's ups and downs. For the Cottonwood 4th Ward it's been pretty much all downs this season. Every game our score gets doubled and every game something weird seems to happen. Take tonight's game for example. The first half was actually going pretty well. We were only down 8 points with under a minute remaining in the half. Cue the weird moment of the game.

With about 10 seconds left in the half the best player from the other team got the ball and was headed down court. I was the only one getting back to stop the play, so I decided to foul - figuring we weren't in 1 & 1 yet. I committed a reach in foul and held the player up to make sure he knew I wasn't being dirty. The whistle blew and the Ref changed the game.

That's a flagrant foul on Covili. Two shots and the ball out of bounds.

Joey, are you kidding me? I held him up to be a good sport.

You weren't going for the ball. A flagrant foul also constitutes a technical foul, so you're out of the game for the next 5 minutes.

Joey, I'm the least likely guy in the gym to get a "T" and now I've got to sit out? Come on.

Those are the rules.

I sat my time, all the while being jeered by everyone in the gym. "Bishopric can't hold their tempers." And that was from my the guys in my ward. We lost the game. I laughed it off, eventually. The questions remain, am I now going to be known as Mr. T at church? Do I have to confess to the Bishop before I can play again?