A Minor Distraction.

Sometimes Addie gets distracted when we try to take her picture. Here she was looking at the camera, but became more intrigued by the words being typed.

Hey, Len! Where you been?

I got a nice post card from an old friend the other day. Len Tuckwillow is doing well up on the Oregon coast where he goes out each day, collects some sand-sanded pieces of driftwood and makes them into small baskets. They are actually available from a number of catalogs--and we seem to get a lot of them. I am thinking of making a catalog basket and sending it to Len. If you are interested, leave me out of it. Please.

Valentine's Day Secrets

So I decided that it would be fun to take Nathan (not big nathan) along with me to go and get Robyn a Valentine... Tuesday morning, I asked Nathan to come with me to get her gift. We set out for See's Candies in downtown Scottsdale, and I explained that we were going to the "chocolate store" to get her a box of chocolates. Nathan was great, even though the store was both packed and understaffed, undermining my hopes of getting in and out quickly. We ultimately selected the perfect heart-shaped box of chocolates for Robyn, ate some free samples, and even bought a bag of chocolate gold coins (treasure) that Nathan had spent the entire time in the store hiding and finding in the hood of his rain jacket.

On the way home, I emphasized how important it would be to keep the gift a secret because we would not give her the chocolates until the morning of Valentine's Day. Nathan agreed and promised not to tell mom about the present. Here is the discussion that took place later that afternoon:

Robyn (to the boys): Let's all go to the store and get Daddy a Valentine's Day Gift!

Nathan: Are we going to the chocolate store?

Volvo be gone!

We sadly, but happily announce the sale of the old Volvo. It was time. It took a week or so and we are fans of Craig's List as a way to unload all kinds of stuff. No more nifty turning radius, no more wondering if it will run another few miles. No more insurance! Hey, this is not all that bad after all.

Go in peace. To Tucson with you! Go!

I guess I will save this for another day....

The Donald shares his secrets

I received four of these in the mail yesterday so I officially have 8, count 'em, 8 passes to this conference. Early bird gets the chance to learn The Donald's secrets. If that's not enough of a lure, they're giving you a free lunch and a free book if mine eyes don't deceive me. If it wasn't on a Wednesday, I'd go just to meet George.

Location: Pointe South Mountain Resort, Phoenix - 7777 S. Pointe Parkway

Date: Wednesday, March 7

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

This was also my test on our new color scanner. Now I can post scans instead of blurry pictures taken by my cell phone.

Slaying the Dragon

Good thing our little knight Nathan has slain that dragon - he looks pretty scary! Seriously, such a cute idea and treasure map!

Click HERE...believe me.

Everyone loves a chocolate festival.

This weekend is the Glendale Chocolate Affaire. It's just one more reason to be a fan of SRP, who presents and sponsors it. Has anyone been to it? It sounds really fun.

I'd like to see this "largest chocolate Valentine's heart" they're going to have. Plus "Families with children will enjoy a myriad of activities, including hands-on arts and crafts, face-painting and a rock-climbing wall. Horse-drawn carriage rides will be available throughout the weekend to take couples or families on a scenic, charming ride through the historic Catlin Court district."

More info can be found here. I'll be there with chocolate bells on.

It's a Boy!!!

Baby Names

Shellie, I found a great site with the meaning of names....you should consider some for the little Joshua's middle name.

P.S. Don't the blog colors change tonight at midnight?

Woot off

Not that I want to draw more attention to it, but there is a woot off today on woot.com Good luck!

More Free Stuff

I have two tickets to the FBR Open today if anyone could use them - they're VIP passes and come with complimentary food & drink.

The absolute worst!

I was touched by the Ding-Dong story referred to in Aubrey's blog and my mind wandered back to the 1950's when Grandpa had an entire barrell of these

awful little morsels in his store. I tried to like these things but they are about as nasty as a candy as ever crossed the Little Colorado River and into our town. The memory still haunts me. Years later, we took the kids to SLC and took a tour of Brigham Young's home and they offered horehound drops to the tourists as a "treat from the past." I put on my game face and slipped one into my mouth. The taste had not improved in over 40 years. I ran outside and spit it into a place where about a hundred tourists had just spit theirs. NOBODY likes them. Why make them? It seems to be a good waste of stuff if they still produced. They would, however, be good as "trick candy". Hey, it worked on me. By the way, we still have the barrell!

Jesterz Freebie

For those of you who haven't seen the Jesterz, they're a comedy troupe at Theater 168, an improv/comedy club owned by an LDS couple, located at Scottsdale Rd. & McDowell. It's a really fun, clean comedy show and if any of you can attend, there is a free student showcase this Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

This is the info that was in the email they sent me:

Student Showcase
Thursday - January 25 - 7:30
Student Showcase - Improv 201 - advanced students in the jester'z "Performance Prep" class, are putting on a showcase and we need an audience. This is the 1st of 4 showcases that this class will perform in over the next 12 weeks.
Come enjoy 60 minutes of hilarity with the up & comers of Theater 168. No reservations are necessary. We begin seating at 7:20. Theater 168 is located at 7117 E. McDowell Rd. Scottsdale 85257
Admission for ALL ages: FREE

Look what I found...

and yes...Little Nathan is sleeping in the closet.

Marshmallow Gun Montage

**The author of this post is Nick, and not Robyn**

I can't take credit for the title of this post. Shellie brilliantly coined the phrase while sending me these pictures. I am a little disturbed by these seemingly harmless toys. If we are supplying our children with these sugary confection propellants at age four, then what values are we reinforcing? And just exactly what are the li'l Nathan's next descending steps into the dark abyss?

Age 6 - potato launcher
Age 8 - BB gun
Age 12 - .22 rifle (after competing firearm safety training, of course)
Age 14 - 30-30 rifle
Age 15 - The severed, stuffed head of Bambi's father mounted on Cam & Robyn's living room wall!
Age 16 - Card carrying member of the NRA!
Age 17 - Seen milling aimlessly wearing camouflage at the AZ fair grounds! (aka the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and The Madhouse on McDowell)!


What disturbs me even are the examples set by his parents and least favourite uncle (big Nathan). They cavalierly brandished the guns on Christmas morning and did not exercise any restraint in shooting unsuspecting onlookers. I myself was struck in the face - the cheek, which I calmly turned as to expose the other, if they desired it for a target! I suggest we "Change the Play", as recommended by Pope Benedict XVI. If we don't, then we shall reap what we sow! Watch out for that first step, it's a slippery slope!

Scenes from Christmas 2006

We finally had our pictures developed, and we came across a few choice shots that captured the excitement of Christmas morning at the SoPho Carter house.

Nick, get ready to open your energy gates!

I've been saving this until the whole deal was a little more solid - I wouldn't want anyone to be disappointed if they thought they were going to get some life force energy classes, and then found out it was not to be. But it looks like Nick is in luck! This guy came into our office and said he teaches classes exclusively to SRP employees but may be able to branch out if we're interested.

Here's his card:

Nick, you'll have to let us know if we should contact him.

A Day at the Zoo

Last month there was a family caravan to the zoo. Allison & Amanda really liked the 'mingos, because "they are pink, Daddy!"

As you can see, Allison was not afraid of the giraffes. However, she refused to touch its tongue and elected to feed him from a safe distance.

Next Blog? Here You Go

Do you have a staring problem as well?

Only a few things in life cause a person to stop dead in their pursuit of looking for the next breath more than a beautiful oceanic scene, a campfire about two-thirds burned down where the coals are hot-like and you can see images in the glowing embers as the heat presses into your face, or even watching a young grandchild try to be reverent in church. A good hard rain at the cabin watched comfortably from the front porch in that rocking chair certainly competes. I guess the one that stops me cold is that perfect moment when I reach into the fridge and take that ice cold swig of fresh milk and my wife catches me and says, "for crying out loud, will you use a glass?" Oh yeah, that makes me stare--right into the big spoon drawer where I had already used a big spoon to take a big old heaping mouthful of ice cream.

There is no real point to this except that I have done or seen all these things except one. Guess which one I have NOT experienced.

YYYYYYYIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEE!

Back to the beach! Happy First Birthday Landon on July 31st!

You can see the MLS listing here.

On the MLS

REALTOR® Remarks: **''SCRAPPY'' THE WEINER DOG MAY BE GATED IN DOWNSTAIRS POWDER RM* PLZ DON'T PET, NOT USED TO STRANGERS & MIGHT NOT BE PREDICTABLE

M. A. Pollack

This guy is all over the place in the valley. If you haven't seen him check out this website.

I recently heard a rumor that he lived in the middle of a lake in Chandler. There are a few variations of this rumor, one claiming that the only way to and from his house is by helicopter. I decided to investigate. I pulled up Google Maps and browsed through the city of Chandler. I searched for all of the lakes... after all how many lakes can there be in Chandler (a lot). Then I found it. At least I think I found it. This has got to be it... that place is huge!

Check it out here.
Be sure to click on the satellite image.

From what I can tell the helicopter story is not true but it does look like there is some sort of drawbridge.

National Geographic for little ones

Maybe all of you parents who have toddlers already knew this, but National Geographic is now printing a magazine for "little kids". I got a sample one in the mail yesterday and I think the kids would really like it. It has pictures, stories, activities and perforated cards that can be ripped out, too. I took it to Carl & Brooke's and there it waits for anyone who wants to check it out.

Moo Shoo

Check this out!! ( you have to scroll down to #13)

I thought this song from veggie tales was kinda funny. Nathan has no idea what they are talking about but he still laughs every time they say "chicken"

If this doesn't make you want to watch Happy Feet, nothing will.

To the chopper--quick!

This is not exactly what I had in mind when I sprang for the remote control helicopter. I was thinking more of sitting in my nice leather chair (the one in which Colman and Nathan often sit in when I am not at home) and directing the flying unit to go get stuff for me....the remote to the telly, a Butterfinger, a drink of cool beverage or something like that. Unfortunately, I allowed another person to figure this out and it had so many hard landings that we had to get out the bacon-strip band-aids to mend it.

I do not know if it works now or not. I am afraid to even tweak with it--knowing that I can fly this wounded bird into an object that would drain it of what life remains in it. I just may retire it like some of the othe choppers that I have replaced--courtesy my dentist.

So, for all you RC enthusiasts in the making, be very careful. It is like taking a couple of hard-earned twenties off that roll and tossing them carelessly in the air with that devil-may-care attitude and have someone rip you the heck off!

Oh, well, it was fun to watch them fly for a little while. Here pretty bird, come here and I will mend your wings and place you on a perch of honor to survey all that is good and noble in our little twisted world.

Cold Stone Jumpery

Okay we tried it! We made ice cream in our soccer ball ice cream maker the other day - it worked great, although I should have opened it earlier to stir it up - it was frozen hard around the outside of the canister and still milky in the middle. Yummy though!

Would anyone like a heart attack?

This recipe is yet another reason to be disappointed Krispy Kreme didn't make it here.


Two dozen Krispy Kreme donuts
One can of sweetened condensed milk
Two cans of fruit cocktail
Two eggs
One 9 oz. box of raisins

Butter rum sauce:
One stick of butter
One lb. of powder sugar

Grand total = 10,442 calories. Yum!

A rebel with no cause whatsoever.

I'm sure you've all noticed that blogger has been trying to convince us to switch to the new version for some time. Col and Court have both switched their personal blogs over, but I have been holding out. Can't say why - I guess I just like bucking the trend.

Unfortunately, regardless of my attempts to subvert the system, it looks like we're all going to be forced to switch pretty soon. The main difference is you will need to sign in with your google account instead of your previous blogger login.

In preparation for this, I will send all of you an invitation to gmail so that you can set up a google account if you don't already have one. If I don't have your email address I can't send you an invitation... so if you want an invite, get me your email address.

Hopefully we can help each other work through this transitional period - both emotionally and categorically.

After much anticipation...

...we've got pennies!

Picture People

See you all tomorrow at the Scottsdale Fashion Square Picture People at 9:10am. Dont forget to have your child(ren) wear their red shirts and socks.

A politically correct Christmas.

We received this "Christmas card" at work today. I don't think you can get more politically correct - they not only omitted any image or reference to Christmas (religious or otherwise), but also managed to loosely represent all people. The inside, of course, wished us peace and goodwill this year.


And to that I say:

"Merry Christmas!"

Whew! There is Jacob.

Seusical the Musical

On Friday we went to see Seusical the Musical at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. In the lobby they had Jarvis Rockwell's (grandson to Norman Rockwell)toy collection. Every character you could ever think of is on this pyramid. It is worth making a trip down just to see it.

Cue the chestnuts!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
Fire pit burning on the patio.
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir.
And people asking what's the matio?

Ok, I am not a lyricist, but the firepit is working now. We ordered the low flame so as not to burn the place down. It is cozy and we like it!

Now, bring on the chestnuts.

An idea for next year's talent show.

Let's not get any ideas...

Do you ever get those emails that make you say, "Now why didn't I think of that????"
Colman, I know you'd like to keep Adeline away from the Christmas tree, but please, don't get all Macgyver on us!

Next Post....

It's been a slow week on the blog

Our girls are completely enthralled with the game, "Risk". Not because of the strategy associated with plotting world conquest and domination (like Aubrey with the blog), but because of the myriad multi-colored army pieces associated with the game. Anyway, we often hide the game and they often find the game. The other day, Shellie was upstairs cleaning and she threw a little yellow game piece down the stairs. I happened to be standing in front of the refrigerator (door open, of course), and the piece bounced down the stairs and lodged perfectly between my big and second toes. Although the attached picture is a reenactment of the end result (I couldn't walk to the camera without the piece falling out!), I hereby vouchsafe that this story is true.

BTB, please refrain from any comments regarding hairy feet or toenail hygene.

Tennis Anyone?

I signed up for tennis ******day ***** at *** and the *******************. I would love it if someone wanted to take with me or even the same time as me and we can play after.

Are you kidding me?

Okay, granted, I knew I had a beautiful daughter that was quite photogenic. But this photo, taken whilst we were attempting a family photo shoot, still took my breath away. Anyone know of any kid modeling agencies? Maybe Nick CAN retire early...

MERRY CHRISTMAS season

Now that the Christmas season has officially begun, I will now rejoin the beautiful red on red Christmas blog.

Pilgrims

Pilgrims.

You are missing the "reason for the season".

It is obvious that the Pilgrims consider themselves disciples of Thanksgiving. Whereas, we are disciples of Christmas.

The pilgrims have restored the empire.

The noise you heard last night was my military forces and various other militia groups storming Nick's oversized Versailles-like palace and ousting him. I was finally able to amass the necessary support when I pointed out to various splinter groups that Nick is responsible for stealing exactly 7 days from the pilgrims. This could not be tolerated, and action was taken.

You can rest assured that business will be back to usual as they say. Carry on.