famous last words... "it can't get any worse"

Well, it most certinly can get worse. In fact, a lot worse. But, rather than go on about how lame the last 26 or so hours have been, I have decided instead to continue and try to be thankful and use optimism. Carolyn and I have an almost free weekend! This has not happened in a while. Also, got the second highest grade in my ECEn 224 class! Take that EE majors! Unfortunatly I failed my pass fail programming exam tonight along with most of my peers. Not sure what that means yet. I am excited to keep getting to play sports even though my leg might argue. Its pretty bad, so i might have it looked at soon. The bone seems really hurt but not fractured, the skin however is pretty ugly and i'm not sure how well it will recover. But hey, whats more scar. I love my wife and my life is great! And after all isnt stress what keeps us alive? I think I would be bored out of my mind if I had a regulr life... regular not sure I know that that means anyway. Anyway, this entry is done.

Malik's sad day

Well, I am taking up more blog time and space. Yesterday wasn't the peachiest day of the year, that's for sure. So, Bret got to come home early from work yesterday and was playing with the kids and Malik started getting upset about something, then just threw up all over the floor as well as all over Bret. It was pretty gross and he was very pale., Malk that is! The boys were all supposed to go see Madagascar at the dollar theater with Kipp and his boys, but Malik had to stay home, which meant that I didn't go to the Stake Leadership meeting. I got to stay home and clean up vomit all evening! I think he threw up about six times. I am guessing that something must not have sat well with him. It must have been something he ate at school for breakfast, because he didn't really eat any lunch or dinner. This morning he seems to be much better, but I am only giving him easy things on the stomach, like ice pops etc... He likes that! He just wants to sit on the couch and watch The Mupppet Show. (My sister let us borrow her DVD's. The kids love watching them over and over!)
Anyhow, I don't think it is any virus or anything because he seems a lot more perky this morning and his eyes aren't glossy, or his face isn't as pale as last night.

Hope everyone enjoys conference this weekend.

Jarek's Sad Day

Well, Jarek had a sad and embarrassing day today. When I went to pick him up from school, I noticed that he had on different clothes. He was walking slowly (well, slower than usual) with his head down and eyes sad. He came up to me and told me that he had had an accident. He had peed his pants while in his project class. He was very embarrassed. I asked him how it had happened. At his school they are very into not wanting the kids to take restroom breaks during class, and "encourage" them to always go while at recess or lunch. So, Jarek said that he didn't need to go during recess or lunch, but then had to go during the last part of school. He being the kind of kid that doesn't want to break the rules by having to ask for a pass (he says he teacher doesn't like to write passes) decided to try and hold it until it was time to go home. Well, he couldn't make it and wet his pants. I felt so bad for him. I wanted to cry right then, but didn't want him to be even more upset or embarrassed. Poor guy! I just hope that the other kids don't start to ridicule him. Luckily he is a very nice, likeable kid and maybe the other kids will just forget about it. More than likely though I am the only one who is really worried about it at all!

next year vacations

HI, after just returning, it sounds silly to already be planning next year, but we had to think about it while we were with the other Walls. we will obviously be in Utah next summer at the end of August to take kathy to school, so our vacation will be there. this may not work out so well with Jarek's school starting so early in August, but maybe you can come up for a long weekend and play in Utah with us. I would like to show the kids some mountains and maybe even camp or hike. maybe we could meet halfway, like at Zion National park. which made me realize we could try and make the desert trip this spring. anyways, our plans are just outlines at this point, but people do need to know. we are hoping to see jacob and Cari for Christmas and take them down to see my family. then we are hoping to see Bret and Tev and the boys, or just Tev and the boys, or just the boys, whoever comes, in January or so. Tom really wants to spend his spring break in AZ, if we don't do the desert thing. that's it so far. boy, do I plan ahead!

trip out west

Well, I have way too much to do to be blogging, but since I sat down to read my emails, I thought I'd at least summarize the trip for some of you, since we never had time to call. it was great! day by day summary: Phoenix, wonderful to be with all, your place looks great, weather was great, great dinner, yep, great is the word. Las Vegas- egh, I will never go back. sex everywhere, on every taxi, billboard, bush, and pole. we did get to see the volcano explode at Mirage. everyone was over 70 and white. smoking everywhere. we were impressed with the inside of Ceasars and how classy it was. I kept thinking the town was going to be burned down any minute and I didn't want to be caught there.... we did like the temple the next day, and our visit with Mike and Regina and Angela was great. they were nice and talkative. the drive to Vegas and to Zion's was better than the city itself. Zion's was awesome. perfect time of year to hike, great hotel, beautiful scenery everywhere you looked. the ST George temple was also wonderful. one of the temples had the most beautiful celestial room I have ever seen. I forget which one. our drive to Jacob's was fast and easy. I got to shop at BYU bookstore and buy some fun stuff we don't have available here. Jacob and Cari's open house was fun! Curtis Larson came, Maggie, Tammy Fitz and her 2 babies, Ben Ricks, and Jesse and Stacie. they asked for you, Jacob Webb. I also missed seeing you. anyways, again, the weather was perfect, great food, really, and it was fun to meet their friends. we loved their ward, and enjoyed real mormon talks. we loved their place, and they cooked for us! how fun is that! now we have 2 kids that feed us when we come! the drive to Idaho was also fast and easy. mom and dad come over for Patty's awesome dinner. Monica's husband comes home from Iraq by Thanksgiving! she had her 3 kids there, Debbie came over, and Seth and his wife. mom couldn't take the noise very long, so they did not stay long. we took lunch over there the next day, and had a nice visit. she did pretty good. she knew us well, and went on and on about Bonnie and how wonderful she was for over an hour. but she couldn't remember who Mike Wall was. sad. dad has his hands full. we got back to Bonnie's in time for dad to take a nap and I helped her with setting all the tables with real plates and tableclothes and silver ware. she is amazing. she served chicken haystacks, and they were the best! her sauce had some other stuff added. yum. I guess I eventually should list everyone that was there for Bret's sake, and now I have a list of all their kids names. news flash here: David Noalle's wife couldn't come cause she had a miscarriage on Saturday. let me remind you they got married a few weeks before Jacob and Cari did.
it was great to see so many people come so far to see us and Jacob and to meet Cari. Patty and Monica and Crystal and Cami drove all the way down, then back up the same night. there are lots and lots of babies. I hope it wasn't too tempting for you, Cari. :) I actually might have saw them all and immediatley have said, no way, not me. I will make a list and send it out some day this week. so, we had no problem at all. dad stayed calm as a cucumber all week, but he did get a bit stressed on the day we went home cause our rental car had some damage on the grill and we didn't know if we did it or not. but it should all work out. we were 1/2 hour late arriving, and Kathy gave us her sad eyes and how tired she was story. ok, everyone sigh here. but she is already over at Karen's today with Sean Paino, so she ca't be too tired. we did a great job planning a really fun trip! the kids lived fine without us, Tom grew another inch, the dog went into depression a bit, but all in all, it was worth it.

Mortal Kombat

Hi all, I was just wondering if our Mortal Kombat N64 game is hanging out at one of your all's residences. I was looking for it the other day and couldn't remember if someone had borrowed it during Christmas. No big deal, I was just wondering! :) Hope everyone had a lovely Sunday.
Tevs

Take Control ... and BYU Sucks

I'll make the post title more clear - BYU Football Sucks. So we finally get cable this fall so that I can actually watch a few football and basketball games this year since so few are now on regular TV. I was able to watch the BYU game against TCU and watched them take a 41-29 lead into the fourth quarter. At which point I turned it off with about 8 minutes to go since they looked in control and I had other things to do. Not until I just logged on did I even fathom that BYU would have lost in OT 51-50! So frustrating. Maybe it is better just not to watch.

But that was not what I originally intended to blog about. We have all heard the saying that "good things come to those that wait." But it is so untrue. Why do people believe this stuff? Who makes up some of these maxims? The past few months at work have been a perfect example to me that this is not, generally, true. If you want something, if you really want to change something in your life, you have to change it. Does your job suck? You have to be the one to change it. Is your marriage difficult? Sitting there and waiting won't help. But so many people just think that things will naturally change if they just "wait it out." It is a little like the people that stay in these cities when the hurricanes come through (those that have a choice), and they just think that everything will be fine.

But most people are not leaders. Most people don't make an effort to change. Therefore, unless you are fortunate to have some good people around you, nuttin go'in change. You have to stand up and make the change yourself. A much better saying is, "if you want something done right, do it yourself." That one is very true, at least in my experience. Things at work have been a little hectic lately, and people have been a little down since the same things that have always been broken (processes, people) are still broken. I've gotten to a point where I need to do one of two things - move on or fix it. (there is a much better saying that is a little vulgar but is a fantastic metaphore - it goes something like "you either got to take a dump (usually more vulgar) or get off the toilet!" See, I knew you'd like that one). I don't really feel like moving on - I like my job and company - so it's time to fix it.

It is interesting. I am a grateful person who is not obsessed with money and usually don't worry about how much I get paid or anything since I am happy to make what I make. But in a capitalist society, when I look at the people around me and above me - I am a dang good bargain! I don't think any company could really pay me what I am worth. :-)

Farewell to a friend

So I got the call last night that everyone dreds getting... The call that someone very close you has been killed. Shane Sirois was shot and killed Saturday night in Tucson, AZ. Although I somewhat half expected that would be how he went, I didn't think it'd be so soon. He always seemed a little rough around the edges. The kind of kid who defied athourity wherever it was presented. He was raised LDS but chose to follow a different path in life by the time he got into high school. Despite his drug use and drinking, he and I remained friends. A few months younger and quite a bit bigger (built) than me made him the leader in many of our childhood escapades, and no matter the adventure, we were like brothers... the kind of brother you get along with though (which I didn't get along with mine when I was younger).

So I reflect now (and all last night) on memories of the Shane I knew. He and I walked to scouts together in elementry and mid school. We would stop on the way at Whiting Bros. gas station and buy a Dr. Pepper. They had the "win under the cap" lottery going so we would cover for each other to look under each cap before buying them so we could get free drinks.

We spent summers playing in my grandpas equipment out behind our house. Usually we would pretend that he and I were brothers (with a lot of guns and even some super powers) out to find our family, or rescue someone. He was with me the day I got appendacittis (sp) and the first of my friends to come visit me in the hospital afterwards.

We often went to the local flea market on weekends to try and buy a knife or some other taboo item for young 10-12 year olds to have.

As explorer scouts, we went on a number of "moon-capades." He was never shy to share his ham with the world. On one outting we were camping near the slat river canyon (miles from anything) and hiked out to the main road around 10pm (with 4 other scouts) to moon passing cars. Of course it was his idea, and of course, I was afraid to go along, but he always had a way of convincing me to go anyway. Looking back, I'm greatful for small things like that, just to say I've done them. Besides, the thought of driving out in the middle of absolutly nowhere at 10'oclock at night and seeing 6 little white butts shining over the gaurd rail sure gave us a great memory to laugh about for years, and will for years to come.

He and I also were together when we discovered that a can of beans will explode if you put it in a campfire to heat up its contents and don't open the lid... the same happens with cans of compressed shaving cream.

When we were 15, I bought a small Honda 50 motorcycle and we would both sit on that, (me on the gas tank and him on the seat) and cruse the trails in the forest behind my house. Out near the Mogollon Rim, there was an irrigation river (ditch) that we would drive along and sing CCR "Rollin Down The River" everytime we rode there. We were crossing Hwy 260 to take him home from riding one time and accidentally jack-knifed the bike. We both got scraped up, and my leg was badly burned by the exhaust pipe. His grandpa (ex-millitary man) was up visiting from Tucson so he cleaned my wound... one bottle of iodine later, I learned the price for sterilization, and you know, it didn't even scar.

Shane and I would ditch sunday school on occasion to go to the gas station down the road and buy treats. We attempted to do this one night for mutaul and were chased down and tackeled by Shane Hall (an advisor from Show Low who should have even been there). My friend Shane came back for me and kicked Shane Hall and we resumed (and succeeded in) our escape.

When I left on my mission to Ecuador, he was at my farwell. It was the first time he had entered a church since we were 17. He wrote me the entire time I was in Ecuador, and although I could never get him to return to church again, and we pretty much went our seperate ways a couple of years ago, we always tried to keep tabs on each other.

There was always some sort of comfot that I got just knowing he was out living his dream being an international stunt man. Although he never really excelled in school, I knew his potential and always urged him to reach it. Being a stunt man really was his dream in life, and along the way he became fluent in Chinese and well versed in German.

I think the hardest part about all this is that not only was he a brother to me, but he was a brother AND a father to his two younger siblings. Their father died when Shane was only 6 years old and his mother went through a number of bad marriages thereafer. Shane was always there as the family protector; not only for his younger siblings, but for his mother as well.

Although very few, if any, people ever knew the Shane I knew, it is the Shane I will always remember and love. I don't know exactly where his death has taken him, but I know that our Father in heaven is both just and merciful. No matter where he is now I'm sure it's better than where he was on the night of his murder.

I know this was long. I don't really expect anyone to read it. It was more for myself to just get out on "paper". However, if you do read it, you are welcome to still comment if you feel inclined.

batman and courage

Well, dad and I paid the $2. and went to see BatmanBegins. he didn't think we would like it cause he heard it was a chick flic. it wasn't. to me, scary and ugly and violent. but I did like it, and I always try to get something out of each movie. so once again, my take on it was courage. I am working on this particular trait this year, so I see it everywhere, and make note of it. I liked the idea of facing your fears. it was kind of what Bret said in one of his blogs about fear. it was worth the $2.

Flatline

So, last night one of my co-workers invited me to go to a "life skills" class. It's pretty much a two bit self help therapy group session where a bunch of poor and depressed gay and lesbian singles and "couples" try and figure out what they should be doing to find happieness, peace and acceptance in life. No, the co-worker that took me is not any of the above, she's actually married. She just invited me because her husband couldn't make it and she didn't want to miss the session nor did she want to go alone.

The session was on "committment" and learning to recognize when we actually have a subcouncious committment that we are following rather than the verbal committment we say we are. For example, someone said they are committed to saving money and being financially stable, yet they keep spending whatever money they get, so, in reallity, they are actually committed to spending whatever money they get. Also, someone who says they are committed to loose weight with a diet yet keep eating and gaining weight, are actually committed to eating food and gaining weight. Basically, it was one of those DUH!!! kind of classes that most people would just think and see, well... yeah, that's obvious, I don't need someone to tell me THAT!!

Anyway, one exercise we did lead to me explaining that I don't really have huge ups and downs (emotionally) or at least that's what I try to do, and when there are ups and downs, I try to make them as little and short lived as possible. Someone pointed out that I'm trying to "flatline" myself. My response to that was: "yeah, so? The bad side to that is...?"

What do you think? Is it really that bad of a thing to try and "flatline" yourself emotionally? This is something I've been working to accomplish ever since my first area in Texas. My companion was an elder from California who (to me) seemed to never be super excited, nor super sad, about anything! It really bugged me since I was always all over the place emotionally. (those of you who realy know me, and know me from my younger youth know what I'm talking about... you think I have female (domestic) traits now... I was probably worse than most emotionally stressed female teens). Anyway, when this companion of mine explained his reasons for his lack of ups and downs it made me think, yeah, that seems logical enough!

I don't really think I'm apathetic either. Although, I'm sure I may come off that way at times. I've thought more about all this since last night and just wanted to know what you all think of it.

Is it really that bad to try and maintain an emotional "flatline" (or stability if you will)? (Exchanging high highs which may include preventing me from getting emotionally attached to anyone because of the inevitable low lows that come with it)?

It's open for disscussion and feedback.

Where have I been?

So where has Darth Wall been for the past couple of weeks. In reality, nowhere. It has been a hectic few weeks with work and busy weekends. Work continues to be quite busy, and this week is our annual Prudential Forum where people come in from all over the world to stay at a nice hotel and have cocktails while they pretend work is getting done. On my side, work is getting done. I am able to avoid all of the fancy, schmancy meetings and "hold down" the proverbial fort. That is okay with me, since I have been behind for a few weeks. It seems I never quite got back on track after the NY vacation (though it was worth it!).

Last week Tevia and I were able to attend a night of cocktails for a local charity that provides help to children with physical disabilities. It is a neat organization that has a great goal and some good people. We were asked to attend to consider joining their board and adding new blood to come up with new ideas. Tevia, I believe, is going to step up to this challenge. She will do a fantastic job. She is the full package: intelligent, creative, a leader, and gorgeous. Though you wouldn't think good looks mean that much in business/leadership, they actually do. They certainly don't mean everything, but having a nice face will get you attention that otherwise you may not have received. Therefore Tevia is the perfect poster child. She will do a fantastic job and I will be there to support her. I think it is a good organization that deserves our time and effort.

Other than that life has been somewhat boring from a writing perspective. We did watch a neat miniseries this weekend that made me think - something I love to do. It was the Battlestar Galactica miniseries (based on the original show made in the 70's). It was a neat concept with deep questions and metaphors. It is based on a group of humans (there are twelve tribes, originating from the planet Kobol - seems an awful lot like Kolob!) that create sentient "robots," called Cylons, that eventually lose control. Yes, this is a story played in many shows/movies for years. But it takes it to a deeper level than most. The Cylons believe they were created by God - through humans - to show how much He was disappointed in the humans. The humans believe the Cylons have no soul, so can not be creations of God. In the end most of the 12 tribes are destroyed by the Cylons and a small group of humans flee in order to save the race (time to make lots of babies) and search for a legendary planet of a 13th tribe called Earth. Tevia and I both liked it. Season One, which was created due to the popularity of the miniseries, comes out next week on DVD and they are on our Netflix queue.

Speaking of Netflix - I am very impressed by this company. Here is a company that may singlehandedly put the neighborhood rental stores out of business. Since we began using the service, nearly half of my team at work has started. And everyone loves it. It is so much cheaper than renting at local stores and compared to the theater is a bargain! It has changed our paradigm on DVDs, and has become a fun addition to our entertainment side. If I had a ton of money, I'd invest in it for the next two years and then dump, because at that time you'll probably just download movies to your hard drive.

Too bad that Agassi lost, but it was fun watching the US Open again. I want to play tennis again.

post something blues

I never realized before how easy it is to diagnose others and not be able to see it in oneself. this week I have really been feeling odd, and last night I couldn't sleep at all, and while worrying away the hours, it came to me, I am in one of those post-something depressions. I feel gulity about laying in a nice comfy bed, having delicious and nutricious dinners, and having time to do whatever I want. I don't feel like going back to school, work, or even help at the church social services, a job I absolutely loved last year. I don't even feel like shopping. clothes and nice things for the house seem stupid. I guess this cancer thing with my friend and then this hurricane and almost 9/11 has gotten to me, and I didn't even know it. I have a list of things I plan on doing this fall: painting the up bathroom, putting pictures on the hall wall, painting all the white spokes on the front porch, genealogy, sewing, organizing the attic, and I could go on. I think it wil be harder than I thought to get motivated to do any of that. I had no energy all week, but that could have to do with getting up at 6 am now, and it does take 2 weeks to get your body rhythm in a good cycle. I am ready my scriptures, and exercising, which are the two things that usually boost me up everyday. so I get to feel like what others feel when I say to them, just read your scriptures and do yoga or something..... this is good for me. my next trick will be to help someone else. I made cookies yesterday for Chris Paul, but that was too easy, since I ate most of them myself. I won't have time to help someone else today, cause in order to save gas, I saved all of my errands to today, and I have to be done with them all by 11 because I am babysitting 11-1. By then I will need a nap. there are 5 kids, 2 of them crazy 2 year olds. 3 people want me to go to lunch with them, and it actually just sounds boring and a waste of money. and I am a bit afraid to leave the kids for so long and go on vacation. well, I didn't mean for this to get long. sorry. I hope I can print this for my journal. oh, also, don't worry about me, this is just a short term thing for me, and it was actually good for me. just realizing it has helped me already. things that happen like Katrina can really bring us down, but the key is to still be cheerful and go out there and help others. and I will. :)

Golf

Here's one for you...

So I've been asked to represent Trophy Homes (the company I work for) in a couple of golf tournaments. One of those tournaments took place today. It was put on by a non-profit organization that helps struggling middle to high school age students improve in reading and other necessary life skills.
Anyway... our second hole of the day was a fairly short par 4 (some 230 yards or so, but it was all uphill). Well, I opened up and out drove the green, not by much though. The ball actually bounced on the green and was stopped by the hill that went up behind the hole. So, picture this, the ball is about 15 yards from the pin on a slope of rough with only about 5 yards of the green between the rough and the pin. I lined up, took my shot... the chip came off the hill, landed right on the rim of the green, and rolled in for an eagle!!!

I know it's a bit much of an explanation for something that happened rather fast, but it was my first eagle ever! The entire day went fairly well for me in fact. Yes, it's shot like those, and days like this that keep me playing the game!

Silence

Sometimes silence is golden.
Sometimes silence is sad.
Somtimes silence is healing.
Sometimes silence is bad.

Silence is discord.
Silence is brooding.
Silence is rebellious
Silence is a blanket.

Silence is solace.
Silence is peace.
Silence is reflection,
A moment dropped in a bucket of eternity.

Wherever it settles,
Its effects are felt deep.
When the silence is lifted
No hurts will I keep.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Cari! have a wonderful day, and I hope you like the gift! love, mom

End of the World?

In NY we had discussed how soon we thought the "end of the world" would arrive. Jake Wall had thought it was coming soon. I was thinking it was a ways off. But it certainly seems that darker times are coming. With Katrina, the Tsunami, etc., it seems catastrophes are commonplace and scriptures seem to be fulfilled left and right. If the end is truly on its way, I have been thinking of how to best prepare my family. Obviously living right is the way to go, but I admit I am also concerned about the physical needs of my family. If we can avoid being vaporized in the last days, I'm all for it.

So recently I have seriously considered moving somewhere else - like outside the USA. One idea would be to purchase a home in Mexico in some small town a few hours from Phoenix. Then if anything seems to be heading in the wrong direction, I take my family down there to live off the land and avoid any difficulties to be expected in large US cities. I doubt too many Americans would head south of the border, so I don't foresee any issues crossing the border. If we could find a small town with a market supported by local farmers, then we wouldn't have to worry about our food arriving by truck/train. We could avoid the main dangers of invasion as a small Mexican town would hardly be the target of war or terrorism.

But I wonder if this is what the Lord wants. Does this appear to be running away? I mean, in Mexico we would even have a near temple (the colonies). Would we provide more help if we stayed? Could the Lord use my (our) talents to help in the face of a tragedy? I mean, in New Orleans you can see the people are just looking for leaders; someone to tell them what to do. We could do that.

So is this merely the beginning? It would seem so, which paints a fairly grim picture of the future. Of course, we know nobody knows the time when Christ will return, or when the things that will lead to that point will take place. I take some solice in the fact that while watching the news yesterday I see that just one local TV station had collected nearly $200,000 from watchers. This was just after two days of asking and only from Phoenix people watching that particular station. This shows me we still have many wonderful people that understand money is not important and that charity is. Prudential has provided its employees with a matching charity opportunity (as they do for most charitable contributions - excluding tithing - imagine that, if I could just pay 5% and have Prudential match it for my 10% contribution?) where they will match any amount you donate to Katrina support. I told Tevia to send in our check today.

new orleans

wow! I am amazed at the devastion and condition of that city. it is so sad. I was told several times by people that they could never see how people would need 24 hour kits, or run out of water and electricity for more than a day or 2, etc. well, now we see how it can happen. I think I will update my food storage and money stash. love ya all, and glad none of you live in New Orleans.

soccer vans for teenagers

OK, I promised I'd blog everyone with this subject, because she seemed to think you would all agree with her, but then when I said I would really do it, she said that Jacob would agree with me and dad. and then Cari. and then she thought maybe all would - so, she is complaining vehemently about having to be a cute teenage girl and drive a van to school. it is loud, big, hard to park, and ugly. it beeps when you open the door. of cours, our opinion is just be lucky that you have a car to drive, blah blah blad, cause we never got one, yada yada yada. she claims to be the only person forced to drive such an awful vehicle to Ketcham, and is embarrassed to do so. I told her that was prideful, but I do know that even dad hates driving the van now. dad seems to think we are doing it because it is the safest car for her to drive, which I am not sure of cause the AB brakes no longer work in it. her other point, I am not going to work or school, so most of the time the car is just home, and it is not embarrassing for a mom to drive a van, and the car takes less gas. my question, am I being unreasonable in forcing her to take the van, or should I at least consider her plight and offer to let her take the car on days I don't need it. I already gave in and told her she could drive it the first day of school. take in to consideration the fact that as much as I would love to say, "if you don't want to drive the van, take the bus." but she will be going to early morning seminary and taking Dinho and David Ward and Tom to the church and going right to school from the church, so saying so makes it so that me or dad have to drive them to the church and hang around an hour, then drive them to school. also, she gets out at 1, so I would have to go pick her up, and she will be working or going to volleyball after school everyday, so not letting her drive makes my life much harder. all comments welcome, I will not be mad, and I will be able to take advice and even try to see her side. I did think about telling her that if she raised her ACT test score up by 2 points, I would let her take the car everyday. that is a good motivating factor. ? mom

BofM Status

Motivation to continue! This is the status as I have it. I know that it is not up to date for Tev, Bret, Cari, and Jake, but this is all I have. I suggest that you send me the true report : - ).

Dad Alma 40
Mom Jacob 1
Kathy 2Ne 8
Tommy 2Ne 1
Cari 1Ne 2
Jacob 1Ne 2
Tevia 1Ne 17
Bret 1Ne 2

It is almost the end of Aug. We need to be reading 3.6 pages/day to get done by the end of the year. If you are not done with 1Ne yet then you may be falling behind!!!!! No I am not going to build a tower.

St. Louis - Wedding

Well, Jacob won't have as easy a time remembering his anniversary (5-5-5 sounded so easy!), but he is married! Congratulations to him and Carolyn. We left Phoenix on Wednesday and arrived late at night in St. Louis. My parents and Jacob picked us up in their rental piece-of-crud (I think it was a Ford Freestar - and was possibly the worst car/van I have ever been in!). We drove to our Oakwood apartment, which was very nice except for the fact that it was one bedroom and we had five people to sleep. This didn't end up being as big a deal as you might think. We stayed up late chowing on cheese, crackers, and birch beer. It was fun seeing them again. We went to bed (Tevia on the floor, me on the couch, Jake on a cot and the parents in the nice bed) and watched Chris Angel the magician levitate himself and a girl on the street. I was impressed.

Thursday we woke up to get to the temple at 10 AM. The temple was very nice. It was quite empty, however, upon our arrival. Eventually Carolyn and the others arrived. The sealing was very nice. The sealer was very good, and quite emotional. I was touched and cried. Carolyn looked beautiful. Jacob looked as handsome as he can given his limitations of his temporal temple (ha, ha). For lunch we went to Macaroni's Grill and enjoyed their basil bread and olive oil. That evening we had the reception at the chapel and had fun meeting a few of the Knutti friends and relatives. We lost one of our roommates that evening - and he gained an eternal one.

Friday we woke up before any normal person should in order to pick up Jacob and Carolyn and take them to the airport. Why they planned an early flight on their first night together is beyond me. My parents also stayed at the airport to try and get home, something that took much longer than they expected thanks to poor weather in Cincinatti. Tevia and I went to the car rental place where they convinced me to rent my favorite car - the Chrysler 300! So worth the extra money. We headed back to our apartment and took a nice nap. We then headed down to downtown St. Louis and went up in the Arch. It was actually very cool - what a fantastic piece of architecture. Afterwards we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory where we were seated in the worst table in the restaurant. We asked to be moved and the meal was narrowly salvaged by a very nice bus boy and some dang good Strawberry Lemonade.

We then headed to the hotel, as we had only booked the apartment for two nights. We stayed at the Marriott at the airport in order to avoid having to wake up at an unholy hour. This plan failed, by the way.

We went to the mall where I possibly was the only Caucasion in the mall and Tevia nicely represented the hispanic population. It was a mall built and marketed towards blacks. This was nice for me, as there were many sneaker shops to drool over the latest sneakers. We tried to catch a movie, but felt that a movie that prints out the showtimes and tapes them to the wall behind the popcorn maker probably wouldn't be worth our money. We stopped at a TGI Friday's for some nachos and ice cream and then headed back to the hotel. We made our way to the pool to enjoy the freezing cold water - which was a nice contrast to the freakishly hot and humid conditions. I must confess, why would anyone want to live in St. Louis. It was almost as hot as Phoenix - yet humid! It felt like I was dying just walking along the bank of the Mississippi in the afternoon. So in all reality, the summers are worse than in Phoenix. But to make things worse - they have a WINTER! I mean, it snows and everything. Phoenix is worth the heat for the beautiful winter weather, but St. Loiusians get the WORST of BOTH worlds! OK, enough bashing Carolyn's city, but I think there is a reason she went to BYU in Utah.

So we settled down for a nice evening and set our alarms for a 6 AM wake up in order to make our 7:55 flight. I suggested getting a wakeup call, but Tevia said the alarm was set on the clock radio and on her phone, so we were set. It might be interesting to note here that I am very anal about waking up in hotel rooms. I am similar to Jerry Seinfeld in this regard. When I travel on business I set the alarm, get a wakeup call, AND wake up every hour in order to make sure I don't sleep in. So I drifted to sleep watching Mortal Kombat (sweet dreams of Scorpion in my head...).

The alarm went off and Tevia wondered why her phone alarm did not go off. We paid no attention, packed our things and went downstairs. We got some food from a $20 gift certificate we had received due to a broken toilet the evening before. I wondered why the cafe was not open. But people were walking around, so it wasn't too odd. As we checked out and got into our car Tevia noted that the car clock was wrong. This was hard to believe as it had been right the night before. I asked her what time her watch said and we discovered we had woken up an hour early!!!! This lead to one of our few "raising of voices" as we realized how stupid we were and looked for opportunities to blame somebody. So we drove around for an hour (we couldn't turn the car in until six) and then had an uneventful trip home. Needless to say, we have seen St. Louis at very early hours in the morning, and I hope never to have to do that again.

In the end, the trip was fantastic. I was thrilled and proud of my brother. I think he chose a wonderful woman. From what I hear, they are still married, and that is great news.