Tevia did a great job of documenting Thanksgiving on her blog, but I thought I would put some words down as I am currently on a plane from Phoenix to Chicago and have plenty of time to kill.
I love Thanksgiving as it is an opportunity to spend time with family, eat some great food, and typically is the longest holiday in the USA. This year I took an extra day off to give us time to drive up to Lakeside and go the long way and spend time with Kathy and Jimmy. It was a great idea and we had an awesome lunch there. I also love the drive up 89A north of Sedona. Oak Creek Canyon is gorgeous any time of year.
Last year we actually were in Sedona for Thanksgiving. It was a great time except a few of us, including myself, were a little sick. This year we only had one person sick (Risa's husband Mark) and hopefully nobody will catch what he had. I knew I had a business trip the week after Thanksgiving, so I really wanted to get in some good rest and enjoy the time with family. Mission accomplished. Here were some highlights:
- Enjoyed playing football with Jacob Webb and Jarek and Enok. I missed not having a Turkey Bowl so this was the next best thing.
- Had fun playing Tetris Attacks with Jarek. I don't play games with the kids as much as I used to and Jarek is getting pretty good at this game.
- Enjoyed watching some football games
- The trip around Lakeside with Tevia and the boys was actually more fun than Tevia suggests.
- The lunch at Annie's was fantastic and loved having cheesepuffs again after so many years
- The dinner at Pizza Time or whatever it was called was fun, even though the service and food wasn't all that great. It was fun to sit and talk
- Shooting guns was fun
- Loved playing games as a group. It always makes me laugh and this was no exception.
The drive home was the fastest we've ever done it in. Mark - who drove home with us as he had a plane to catch today, too - said it was because of him. He still wasn't feeling that great and the faster trip worked out great for him.
I am truly grateful for many things in my life. But mostly I love my family. Tevia is a wonderful woman who is a great example and is such a great mom to my boys. My boys bring me so much joy. They each are unique and they all make me proud to be their dad. I was touched today when Enok ran out as I was getting in the car to go to the airport and he said "just one more hug, father!". It made my evening as I knew I would spend the next few hours on a plane and rental car to the hotel. Beyond my family I have health, a good job, and many more things. It is great to remember that on Thanksgiving.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Long Weekend
I took off last Monday and Tuesday to spend some time with the family as I've been traveling a lot and the boys had off of school. It was a great idea. I had a lot of fun. Monday night we had a lot of fun going to the movies and we saw Big Hero Six, which was great. We then did dinner afterwards at Chick-Fil-A and got the peppermint shakes.
It was great to just be able to spend time with everyone and relax. I practiced some soccer with Enok, spent time with the other boys, and just enjoyed the days. It is always great to remember how wonderful your family is. My wife and kids are the reason I do everything I do. And it is good to slow down once in a while and remember why. They are great! And they bring me joy.
It was great to just be able to spend time with everyone and relax. I practiced some soccer with Enok, spent time with the other boys, and just enjoyed the days. It is always great to remember how wonderful your family is. My wife and kids are the reason I do everything I do. And it is good to slow down once in a while and remember why. They are great! And they bring me joy.
Tuesday, November 04, 2014
Kathy joins the family
After having 2 surprise C-sections, Kathy's planned C- section seemed easy. We were able to choose the day, and be totally prepared, since we also knew it was a girl.
I think we chose the date based on the doctor's suggestions, and a deer or elk hunt, but I would have to look over my old diaries to check that.
We had yearned for another child, and I had really wanted a girl. I had 2 very special spiritual experiences before Kathy was born- both confirming she was the daughter we were hoping for.
Yes, it is true, after waiting over 3 years, we were thinking of adopting, and I was actually in the doctor's office for a physical during the application phase when he asked me if I could be pregnant, and told me I was.
All my pregnancies were easy, and we were thrilled.
Financially, she was our most expensive baby. We also still had only a 2 bedroom apartment, so we had to put all 3 kids into one room.
Bret and Jacob were thrilled to have a sister. Bret was a big help, being old enough to babysit. We spent the next year still in Salt Lake, and enjoying family and friends and fun. We moved to NY right before she turned 1. We gave her a pink donut with a candle in it for her birthday that year.
Unfortunately, she was what they used to call, colicky. Every night, from after dinner to about 11pm, she was fussy, and then cried for hours. We tried rocking her, cuddling her, swaddling her. I was advised to watch my diet, I gave up chocolate, dairy, cucumbers, broccoli; basically one thing every week or so, till I realized it wasn't helping at all. When we got really frustrated, we would put her in the car and drive around to make her fall asleep.
She even started out crying more than she should right after she was born, and at her 2 week check up, the doctor told me she had 2 ear infections. I felt so guilty that I didn't know that, as she was too young to pull her ear. Poor little thing.
She had very little hair, blond like the Wall side,and chubby. I would get so upset with Ralph when he would tease me about her weight, yet, I was only nursing her, with no other foods.
I made so many cute dresses and jumpers. It was fun having a girl. As she grew, she disliked them all, wouldn't keep a clip or headband in her hair, and only liked frilly dresses and slips for a phase. One year she wouldn't wear pants, then she switched to not wanting to wear dresses.
She was stubborn and whiny, but when she turned 3, she changed into a pleasant, fun little girl. She loved to help me, and she adored her baby brother.
I can still picture you dancing on the coffee table, and watching Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh over and over. You loved your bunny, which you were given to help you stop sucking your finger.
Kathy, you have brought much joy to our family. I love have a daughter.
I think we chose the date based on the doctor's suggestions, and a deer or elk hunt, but I would have to look over my old diaries to check that.
We had yearned for another child, and I had really wanted a girl. I had 2 very special spiritual experiences before Kathy was born- both confirming she was the daughter we were hoping for.
Yes, it is true, after waiting over 3 years, we were thinking of adopting, and I was actually in the doctor's office for a physical during the application phase when he asked me if I could be pregnant, and told me I was.
All my pregnancies were easy, and we were thrilled.
Financially, she was our most expensive baby. We also still had only a 2 bedroom apartment, so we had to put all 3 kids into one room.
Bret and Jacob were thrilled to have a sister. Bret was a big help, being old enough to babysit. We spent the next year still in Salt Lake, and enjoying family and friends and fun. We moved to NY right before she turned 1. We gave her a pink donut with a candle in it for her birthday that year.
Unfortunately, she was what they used to call, colicky. Every night, from after dinner to about 11pm, she was fussy, and then cried for hours. We tried rocking her, cuddling her, swaddling her. I was advised to watch my diet, I gave up chocolate, dairy, cucumbers, broccoli; basically one thing every week or so, till I realized it wasn't helping at all. When we got really frustrated, we would put her in the car and drive around to make her fall asleep.
She even started out crying more than she should right after she was born, and at her 2 week check up, the doctor told me she had 2 ear infections. I felt so guilty that I didn't know that, as she was too young to pull her ear. Poor little thing.
She had very little hair, blond like the Wall side,and chubby. I would get so upset with Ralph when he would tease me about her weight, yet, I was only nursing her, with no other foods.
I made so many cute dresses and jumpers. It was fun having a girl. As she grew, she disliked them all, wouldn't keep a clip or headband in her hair, and only liked frilly dresses and slips for a phase. One year she wouldn't wear pants, then she switched to not wanting to wear dresses.
She was stubborn and whiny, but when she turned 3, she changed into a pleasant, fun little girl. She loved to help me, and she adored her baby brother.
I can still picture you dancing on the coffee table, and watching Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh over and over. You loved your bunny, which you were given to help you stop sucking your finger.
Kathy, you have brought much joy to our family. I love have a daughter.
Sunday, November 02, 2014
Halloween 2014
Beckham was Cosmo the Cougar this year for Halloween. He wore it well! Holly made him this costume and she did an excellent job. Beckham really loved trick-or-treating. He got to go to a BYU sponsored activity, a ward trunk-or-treat, a mall sponsored trick-or-treat, and he got to do a little bit of trick-or-treating on the street where Boomer's in-laws live. I'd say he had a great year this year. Here are the pics.
Beckham turns 2
Beckham had a very low key birthday party this last Thursday (His parents aren't the biggest party people in the world). Sadly I had to go into work all day and I didn't get home until around 5:30 but I was told by Holly that he had a pretty fun day. For dinner we had the Hawks over and Holly made a new chipotle chicken quesadilla recipe that she had found. They were pretty good. Then Beckham got to unwrap a couple presents. It wasn't the biggest haul I'd ever seen, we actually regifted him a fire truck that he had gotten for Christmas last year, but never played with. He loves it now though. We also got him a bag of new bouncy balls. The Hawks gave him some new cars and a coloring book. Earlier that month mom had given him a home-made city with roads for cars. He still really loves that gift. He also got a cool car ramp from the other grandparents.
After opening presents, Beckham got some cake and ice cream, both of which he really enjoyed. We played with his presents for the rest of the night (He even got to stay up an hour later than normal) and then it was off to bed for him.
I think he had a good day and we were pleased with how it went. I can't believe that he is already turning two! It just seems crazy to me that he is already that old.
After opening presents, Beckham got some cake and ice cream, both of which he really enjoyed. We played with his presents for the rest of the night (He even got to stay up an hour later than normal) and then it was off to bed for him.
I think he had a good day and we were pleased with how it went. I can't believe that he is already turning two! It just seems crazy to me that he is already that old.
Beckham and Mia
Beckham has really taken to having a baby sister. We cannot lay Mia anywhere without Beckham trying to get as close to her as possible. He loves to give her kisses and he's always getting up close to her and saying, "Hi Mia!" He also likes to try to give her lots of toys for her to play with. I'm not sure that Mia really loves all the yelling, poking, and prodding and when Beckham gets too close he gets his mother pretty nervous, but it is cute to seem them interact. I thought we would share a couple pictures of them.
Mia's Baby Blessing
On October 12, 2014, we had Mia's name and blessing. Sadly, because our ward was doing no exceptions for baby blessings not on fast Sunday the Wall family was not able to be there. However, Jim and Debby Christenson were able to attend and we were lucky to at least have some family there. We're sorry we couldn't do it while mom, dad, Jimmy, and Kathy were here.
The blessing went great and Mia was blessed with many things. She was blessed with health and strength and with love for those around her. She was blessed to be especially aware of the strong examples of all the women who came before her. She has a great heritage and I thought that this was a special blessing.
Here are a few pics of Mia in her dress. The blanket in the background was made for her by mom. Also, Mia is wearing the same dress that Holly was blessed in.
The blessing went great and Mia was blessed with many things. She was blessed with health and strength and with love for those around her. She was blessed to be especially aware of the strong examples of all the women who came before her. She has a great heritage and I thought that this was a special blessing.
Here are a few pics of Mia in her dress. The blanket in the background was made for her by mom. Also, Mia is wearing the same dress that Holly was blessed in.
UK Trip October 2014
Unfortunately I had to go to the UK again this year. Not that I don't like the UK, but I am a little tired of traveling. I would much rather have been home with my wife and kids. But I get paid to do a job, so I do.
I took the regular direct flight on BA to London from Phoenix which I've taken many times. I arrived at the airport earlier than usual as it was an international flight. As I approached my gate, I noticed a lot of young people. As I got closer I noticed they were clean cut and dressed like missionaries. And sure enough, there was a group of nearly 30 LDS missionaries on my flight. This is always a good sign as it made me feel safe. I was able to speak to a few of them. They were all going to either Norway or some other country. As I boarded the plane I was happy to find that there were two free seats between me and the other person on my row of four. He was a missionary and we chatted for a while. I don't sleep well on planes so set up for a long flight. I watched a movie, at my dinner, and then felt a little tired. With the missionary having gone to sit with someone else in the plane, I now had the entire row to myself. So I laid down and tried to sleep. I tossed and turned for a while and used my eye cover I used on Lake Powell. How surprised I was that when I woke up, the lights were on. This meant we were nearly to London! I had slept most of the flight. It was awesome.
I had decided to try something new on this trip. My company's office is about an hour outside of London and it is expensive to get a taxi or even take the train (which takes even longer as you have to go to downtown London to catch the train). So I decided to rent a car. It would save the company a bunch of money and give me something new to try. I've never driven on the other side of the road. Even though we lived in Hong Kong, I never actually drove a car; just drove in cars. So I headed to rent the car and began my adventure to drive in England. Thankfully I got to my hotel safe with no issues.
My days at work the first few days were long. My jet lag wasn't too bad, though I did have difficulty sleeping one night. I knew I had a weekend with some free time so I tried to decide what to do. In the end I decided to spend Saturday in Bath. Bath is about 30 minutes away by train, so I decided to take the train instead of drive as it was pretty cheap. All I knew about Bath was that it was a site of an ancient Roman Bath. A few people had said going to Bath was a great choice. And upon arrival, I was so happy. It was a beautiful city. It reminded me a little of Paris. It definitely is a tourist town as there is tons of shops for shopping (not why I was there). But this meant some better food.
I walked around and enjoyed some of the sights and eventually ended up going to the Roman Bath. This is a museum on the site of the natural hot water spring that the Romans set up as a Bath back in about 40 AD. Though a little pricey, the museum was very cool. You are provided a "phone" where you can enter numbers to hear about certain parts of the tour that you want. It was amazing to see something so old. The original pools are still there - nearly 2000 years later. And it is still hot. I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. It was good weather so I decided to walk around a bit more and stumbled upon a river tour. This tour was between two "weirs", which I didn't know what those were before my tour. Basically they are like mini dams to raise the level of the river a few feet. This was pretty cool as we went along the slow river watching life go on along the banks. We saw rugby games, people doing archery, gorgeous homes and even a couple of boys who had just caught a huge pike (it was nearly 2 feet long).
Afterwards I had a quick dinner (at Nando's - one of my fav chicken places) and took the train back. Then I spent most of the evening binge watching Arrow. This was a cool trick I figured out. Netflix is blocked in the UK. Arrow season 2 had just been released and I had watched a few before traveling. While here I had an epiphany: I use a VPN when working when I need to access certain things. The VPN would show a US ip address. I wouldn't want to use it on the weekdays as people are using it and it might slow down speeds, etc. But on the weekends hardly anybody is working, so I was able to stream Arrow. (Loving it BTW).
Sunday I got up and got ready to attend church. I was lucky my boss (also Mormon) warned me that they aren't currently meeting in the local chapel as it is being expanded. So they are meeting in a school. The LDS website does not mention this, so it was lucky for him to tell me (he had just been here a few weeks ago and actually used to live here). I made it in time for sacrament meeting. It was ward conference. The speakers (audio system) weren't working, so it was a little hard to hear. But there were a lot of people. And the speakers were excellent. The bishop and the entire Stake Presidency spoke. They all spoke about "being alone". I was touched most by the bishop's talk and the Stake President's. Tears...
I then took a quick drive down the road to Avebury, which is a site with stones similar to Stonehenge (I considered going to Stonehenge, but felt like the hour drive wouldn't be worth it). Though this site is one of the largest stone circles and quite old, I only stayed like 30 minutes and went back to the hotel as it was just a bunch of stones. Cool to see for a few minutes, but beyond that not much else to do.
The rest of the week was just spent waiting to go home. I wasn't thrilled about being in the UK and just wanted to be home. The days were busy and went fast. Going home was going to be fun in hte fact that I decided to pick the cheaper option of flying into LA (as opposed to the direct route to Phoenix) so I could fly on an A380, the world's largest plane (for people). It was pretty cool. Besides being so big and having two decks the entire plane, I was impressed with the quietness of the plane and it seemed a little more roomy than usual planes. The entertainment screen was also quite large. It was packed, so no luck sleeping on the way back - and I then had to wait for the flight back to PHX from LA (which, BTW, I hate the LA airport), but I was happy to take it.
I got home safe and sound having learned to drive on the wrong side of the road. I took Friday off to recuperate, which worked out great as I was able to recover quickly.
I took the regular direct flight on BA to London from Phoenix which I've taken many times. I arrived at the airport earlier than usual as it was an international flight. As I approached my gate, I noticed a lot of young people. As I got closer I noticed they were clean cut and dressed like missionaries. And sure enough, there was a group of nearly 30 LDS missionaries on my flight. This is always a good sign as it made me feel safe. I was able to speak to a few of them. They were all going to either Norway or some other country. As I boarded the plane I was happy to find that there were two free seats between me and the other person on my row of four. He was a missionary and we chatted for a while. I don't sleep well on planes so set up for a long flight. I watched a movie, at my dinner, and then felt a little tired. With the missionary having gone to sit with someone else in the plane, I now had the entire row to myself. So I laid down and tried to sleep. I tossed and turned for a while and used my eye cover I used on Lake Powell. How surprised I was that when I woke up, the lights were on. This meant we were nearly to London! I had slept most of the flight. It was awesome.
I had decided to try something new on this trip. My company's office is about an hour outside of London and it is expensive to get a taxi or even take the train (which takes even longer as you have to go to downtown London to catch the train). So I decided to rent a car. It would save the company a bunch of money and give me something new to try. I've never driven on the other side of the road. Even though we lived in Hong Kong, I never actually drove a car; just drove in cars. So I headed to rent the car and began my adventure to drive in England. Thankfully I got to my hotel safe with no issues.
My days at work the first few days were long. My jet lag wasn't too bad, though I did have difficulty sleeping one night. I knew I had a weekend with some free time so I tried to decide what to do. In the end I decided to spend Saturday in Bath. Bath is about 30 minutes away by train, so I decided to take the train instead of drive as it was pretty cheap. All I knew about Bath was that it was a site of an ancient Roman Bath. A few people had said going to Bath was a great choice. And upon arrival, I was so happy. It was a beautiful city. It reminded me a little of Paris. It definitely is a tourist town as there is tons of shops for shopping (not why I was there). But this meant some better food.
I walked around and enjoyed some of the sights and eventually ended up going to the Roman Bath. This is a museum on the site of the natural hot water spring that the Romans set up as a Bath back in about 40 AD. Though a little pricey, the museum was very cool. You are provided a "phone" where you can enter numbers to hear about certain parts of the tour that you want. It was amazing to see something so old. The original pools are still there - nearly 2000 years later. And it is still hot. I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. It was good weather so I decided to walk around a bit more and stumbled upon a river tour. This tour was between two "weirs", which I didn't know what those were before my tour. Basically they are like mini dams to raise the level of the river a few feet. This was pretty cool as we went along the slow river watching life go on along the banks. We saw rugby games, people doing archery, gorgeous homes and even a couple of boys who had just caught a huge pike (it was nearly 2 feet long).
Afterwards I had a quick dinner (at Nando's - one of my fav chicken places) and took the train back. Then I spent most of the evening binge watching Arrow. This was a cool trick I figured out. Netflix is blocked in the UK. Arrow season 2 had just been released and I had watched a few before traveling. While here I had an epiphany: I use a VPN when working when I need to access certain things. The VPN would show a US ip address. I wouldn't want to use it on the weekdays as people are using it and it might slow down speeds, etc. But on the weekends hardly anybody is working, so I was able to stream Arrow. (Loving it BTW).
Sunday I got up and got ready to attend church. I was lucky my boss (also Mormon) warned me that they aren't currently meeting in the local chapel as it is being expanded. So they are meeting in a school. The LDS website does not mention this, so it was lucky for him to tell me (he had just been here a few weeks ago and actually used to live here). I made it in time for sacrament meeting. It was ward conference. The speakers (audio system) weren't working, so it was a little hard to hear. But there were a lot of people. And the speakers were excellent. The bishop and the entire Stake Presidency spoke. They all spoke about "being alone". I was touched most by the bishop's talk and the Stake President's. Tears...
I then took a quick drive down the road to Avebury, which is a site with stones similar to Stonehenge (I considered going to Stonehenge, but felt like the hour drive wouldn't be worth it). Though this site is one of the largest stone circles and quite old, I only stayed like 30 minutes and went back to the hotel as it was just a bunch of stones. Cool to see for a few minutes, but beyond that not much else to do.
The rest of the week was just spent waiting to go home. I wasn't thrilled about being in the UK and just wanted to be home. The days were busy and went fast. Going home was going to be fun in hte fact that I decided to pick the cheaper option of flying into LA (as opposed to the direct route to Phoenix) so I could fly on an A380, the world's largest plane (for people). It was pretty cool. Besides being so big and having two decks the entire plane, I was impressed with the quietness of the plane and it seemed a little more roomy than usual planes. The entertainment screen was also quite large. It was packed, so no luck sleeping on the way back - and I then had to wait for the flight back to PHX from LA (which, BTW, I hate the LA airport), but I was happy to take it.
I got home safe and sound having learned to drive on the wrong side of the road. I took Friday off to recuperate, which worked out great as I was able to recover quickly.
BYU vs. Virginia
Some of our friends with all-sports passes (now called ROC passes) were going out of town this weekend and offered us their tickets to the game. We decided it would be fun to go and bring Beckham. Beckham was excited to get all geared up for the game. He looked good in his BYU uniform!
The kids actually did pretty good. It was sunny that day and probably over 90 degrees, but we were able to find some seats with just a little bit of shade and that helped a ton. Mia made it through the first half and Beckham an I stayed through the 3rd quarter. He was getting a little bit tired by then and the shade was all but gone, so we left. It was a fun game. Too bad it didn't go as well 2 weeks later...
BYU Swag
The BYU Bookstore recently changed its name to the BYU Store. To advertise the big change they held a grand-reopening and as part of the reopening they were giving away old BYU Bookstore bags to use as material in a fashion contest. The contest was to make some fashionable clothing out of just the old bags.
Holly decided to take on the challenge and below are some pictures of the result:
The entire suit is made from the just the bookstore bags. Holly did an excellent job and as part of her reward we won one of the prizes: a 7-piece twin bed set. Kind of a random prize, but hey, its still pretty cool to win it!
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