Another Haircut!!!!

So, I have been way over due for a haircut. Today, I finally got one, and guess who was there! The girl that I am so in love with (not really, and really if she doesn't like me back I think it is called lust anyway). We went in to the haircut place, and there she was at the counter. I didn't even have to tell her my name, she remembered it. Isn't that great!!! She probably remembers all the guys she so cruelly shot down. She winked at me as she said, "Hi, Kent." I think I not only winked, but BLINKED back, okay it wasn't really at her, I think something was in my eye. Unfortunately, she was not the one who cut my hair today. DARN the bad luck!!!!!! However, it did not stop her from talking to me and the lady who was cutting my hair! "So, what you been up to?... How are the kids doing?... Are you dating anyone?" The last question was particularly hard for me. She was mocking me and I knew it. It was as if she was driving a knife into my back where my superman cape would not protect me. After the way that she had shot me down, how could she be so cruel as to ask that question! I began to silently and tearlessly weep as I asked my stylist if she could use the texture scissors on my hair. If only she would give me a chance. It was so hard seeing her so happy as she was performing some Edward Scissorhands routine on the girl strapped into her chair. Knowing I would never have her companionship. I wonder if she was telling that girl why things wouldn't work between them! Anyway, I paid, and we left the store. I even left feeling a little light headed. That might just be because they took two pounds of hair off my head though. If some of you are reading this and have no idea what I am talking about, AND you care (both things would be important) then you need to read my previous posting in June entitled "interesting and informative."

This is my new look after the haircut. What do you think?

Shallow Brain, Deep Thoughts Part 7

Today I was listening to a talk. It is amazing all the directions my (apparently ADD) mind goes as I think about the little things people say. The person was not talking really about examples, but mentioned a few things that he had been taught throughout life. As I thought about what he said, I thought to myself, "most of those things could only have been taught by example." I then came to the conclusion that most good things (and sadly the bad things too) are not taught by words, but by example. It made me think of all the examples that I have had, as well as the examples that many of you have been. So, lately I have been better at composing my thoughts through poems, so I wrote another one tonight.

Examples
All that I’ve been taught
most of what I now know
people told in more than mere thought
but also took time to show

I think of all the good I‘ve learned
from good examples all around
much of my admiration earned
by sight and not by sound

Many examples from my great folks
in the way they live each day
oh what amazing thought it provokes
as you see them walk the way

Lest I forget other family or friends
who constantly help me along
their example easily transcends
and guides me away from wrong

Like a candle lighting the night
showing me how I should act
seeing them live with my sight
could they know their impact?

I am so grateful for all of the great
and simple things that they display
the way to be they demonstrate

what I someday hope to portray

Weekend Update

This weekend we did a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We did not do much during the day Friday. We went to the park, hung around the house, etc. In the evening we went to their cousins house because my brother was taking his wife away overnight for her birthday. We ate pizza, played, and watched a movie. It was a lot of fun; it is always great to have cousin time.

On Saturday we went to the "This is the Place Heritage Park." We had never been there and it was free last Saturday, so we figured, okay. We had a great time touring some of the historic homes as well as the shops. The kids loved the train rides, the little village (where everything was there size), the wagon ride (and petting the horses after, as well as the kids thanking them for working so hard), and especially the huge blow-up slides and little bounce houses (not really sure if that is what you call them, but it works for me). I don't think the last thing is normally a feature of the park. The kids and I had a great time, we did everything we could in four or so hours, and we still did not do everything. They even had free Domino's Pizza, bottles of water, and ice cream. It was a great time.

This morning I was getting something out of my car before church, I noticed remnants of a broken glass jar and some jalapeno peppers on the ground near the truck. It appears some awesome kids decided it would be cool to launch the full jar of peppers from their moving vehicle right at my truck's windshield. They broke my windshield wiper arm as well as completely destroying the windshield, making it so you couldn't even see out to drive it (luckily it is not my daily driver). I called the police as soon as I saw it and luckily he was able to come and take a look before church. He basically told me that my truck is an easy target because if I look up and down the street it is the ONLY vehicle parked on the street. Looks like I will be parking the truck on the side of the house behind the boat from now on. Oh, well, I guess I am lucky enough to buy another new windshield (this one was only 8 months old and probably only had 2000 miles on it). The day started to go better from there though. We were on time to Primary, so they got a sticker! In Sacrament Meeting the kids were pretty good, until, T got really upset about something. I tried to settle him down, which only seemed to make him more angry. I think he was talking more loudly than the speaker by the time we left the meeting. He kept yelling, "I'LL BE GOOD, I'LL BE GOOD!" I don't know why my kids can't just cry when I take them out. Whenever I take them out everyone knows exactly whose kid it is, why they are upset, and the exact length of time it takes for me to hurry from our row to the foyer. It is awesome! Overall, they really are sweet kids though. I can't simply judge the five minutes they are naughty, if they are good for 12 hours. When you look at the overall picture, kids are, for the most part very good, although, that five minutes CAN seem like 12 hours sometimes. Anyway, that is about all that happened this weekend.

T & A at the kid village sticking their head out the train windows. I don't believe it is possible to have both of your children's eyes looking at the camera at the same time. Just a theory!
This was one of the cool slides. In this one you had to go through all kinds of obstacles before you ever made it to the slide.
This slide was called the "wave of fire," although I never saw any fire. The kids loved this one, it really is pretty amazingly tall, even though the picture does not show it very well.
We of course had to get a picture in front of the statue. There the kids are, all loaded up with wagon and cooler of cold drinks.
This is the picture at the end of the day through the trucks (not broken yet!) windshield. I think this pose was maintained for the next 5 miles after we left the park. The kids insisted on driving the truck, and since we hadn't driven it for a while, I decided it needed to be driven. Little did I know that it may be a week or two until we get a new windshield and drive it again.

• T asked me to look for things that were his favorite color. I have noticed that favorite colors can change with a child's mood. Therefore, I asked T, "what is your favorite color?" He responded, "green..........and blue, and red, and orange, and purple, and black, and brown, and light blue, and dark blue, and regular blue, and yellow." I am not kidding, that was almost his exact response.
• One morning we were wrestling. I had T pinned and was tickling him. Out of no where he said through laughter, "stop tickling me, your killing me smalls." I have said this phrase a couple of times to them when we were joking around, but I thought it was interesting that he would think of me as "smalls." I could easily see him calling me "tubby," but I am still trying to wrap my arms around the idea that I could be considered "smalls."
• A found some Christmas stickers somewhere and showed them to T and I. I asked her where she got them because Christmas was clear in the winter time and it was now the middle of summer. She told me. T then said, "oh my goodness, A you have Christmas stickers and it is the 4th of July, that just makes me just want to fall out of my chair." Although he was off a week or so on his dates, his comment was still funny. Don't ask me where he came up with that on his own.
• When we got our free slice of pizza at the park, there were not really any remaining seats. I told the kids to just stand up and eat it. T said, "can't we just sit on the grass FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" I replied "sure."

More Things you should know about me.

These blog quizzes seem to be deadly accurate in some areas (a little less accurate in others). It is pretty amazing.

What superpower should I posses? Your Superpower Should Be Manipulating Electricity

You're highly reactive, energetic, and super charged. If the occasion calls for it, you can go from 0 to 60 in a split second. But you don't harness your energy unless you truly need to. And because of this, people are often surprised by what you are capable of. Why you would be a good superhero: You have the stamina to fight enemies for days Your biggest problem as a superhero: As with your normal life, people would continue to underestimate you

What Should Your Superpower Be?

What is my theme song? Your Theme Song is Beautiful Day by U2

"Sky falls, you feel like It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away" You see the beauty in life, especially in ordinary everyday moments. And if you're feeling down, even that seems a little beautiful too.

What's" Your Theme Song?

Am I disturbingly profound or profoundly disturbing? You Are Disturbingly Profound

You're contemplative, thoughtful, and very intense. Taking time to figure out the meaning of life is a priority for you. Because you're so introspective, you often react in ways that surprise people. No one can really understand how you are on the inside... and that disturbs them.

Are You Disturbingly Profound or Profoundly Disturbing?

Deep Thoughts, Shallow Brain Part 6

Today I went up to Evanston, Wyoming for work. I set up what they call a "sleep safe bed." For those of you who do not know what those are (I never did) I will explain. It is a special bed that we order in for crippled children. It has padding all around for kids who have seizures quite often, and to prevent fingers from getting pinched. It actually has many different uses in the needs of handicapped children, and they make diferrent variations of them. In some ways it is like a huge specialized crib, but infinitely more complicated and WAY more expensive. It was a neat experience sitting and saying a few words to this little boy before and after we set up his bed. It was neat to see the excitement on his face (as well as his Mom's) after we got it all set up.

What's inside matters most

Many times I see the people, who seem to have it all figured out,
many people want to be them, their fabulous without a doubt.

They have the greatest style; their looks are something great,
they seem the life of the party, they've never been without a date.

Some are envious of their life; they think they’ve surely been blessed,
they always see the things in them, which set them above the rest.

They seem to stand out in a crowd, to be the best ones of the bunch,
their amazing talents and abilities seem to give the knockout punch.

In defining greatness, these things could heavily weigh,
if asked of the people of the world, on any given day.

Maybe I’ve grown older, or maybe my perceptions have changed,
it’s likely I lack the qualities above, but my priorities have rearranged.

I’ve come across some people, who easily had all that and more,
and yet when I looked deep within, I never could see them soar.

The outer greatness can accentuate, if someone is great inside,
but if ugliness lurks deep within, a passing mask is all it can provide.

Today I met a little crippled boy, who did not have all the above,
but when I took a moment to talk to him, I could only feel his love.

I thought I did all the talking, he cannot even say one word,
but, he said so much more to me, than he could have ever heard.

Because he’s not healthy and strong, some may say he’s not great,
but when it comes right down to it, what’s inside carries more weight.

So as I left this little one’s home and journeyed along my way,
I started to think of all the things, I wanted my heart to convey.

I want to be like this little child and talk to more than just ear,
when I look into someone’s eyes, I want their heart to hear.

I want to have his greatness, to do something more than just talk,
to stand at the door of each human heart, and quietly, gently knock.

So once again I’m reminded of how I must strive to live,

to take the love that I’ve been shown, and use it each day to give.

It's a Small World After All

To quote quite possibly one of the most annoying songs, "it's a small world." Because of some late nights surrounding some fun activities this weekend, we were a little late to church this morning. We made it and the kids talked all about families in their primary class today. Extended and immediate family. After our classes we headed in to Sacrament Meeting. After about five steps into the chapel I was thinking my glasses were defective, or I already need a different prescription. I looked up and there were the Andersons walking in the other side of the chapel. She had a cousin who's baby was being blessed in our ward today. It was so funny. I feel so bad for them that they had to see me 3 days in a row. Now they are definitely ready to move to Ohio! What are the chances that they would walk into our Sacrament Meeting after hanging out with us the last two days. They live about 25 minutes away from us. The close geographical locations of wards in Utah makes it especially funny that they would walk into our church of all places. The kids kept asking if they were going to go to our church now. All I could think was "I wish," but I am thinking driving for a day or two to go to church is not going to work for them. We will definitely miss them.

Later in the day the cousins came over to visit. My poor little five year old nephew was stung by one or two wasps twice within a matter of seconds. We soon realized that they had built a pretty big nest in the upright tubes of the swing set. They were swarming all over the place. I felt so bad for him. The kids have been expelled from the backyard until after tomorrow when I can get some wasp spray. I did not have to work to convince them this was the right decision as I have in many other instances. The bright red marks and crying evident in their cousin seemed to be plenty of motivation. It did not stop them from wanting to play in the front yard though!

I laid by each one of the kids tonight to rub their back as they were going to sleep. I could not help but think how much I love them. I thought about the holidays that I have celebrated with them from the 4th of July to Christmas. Really, most of what makes holidays fun are the kids. I love having them with me and watching them see some things for the first time. I love the excitement that they have and the good times that we have together. None of this stuff would be nearly as fun without them.

• T is so funny, because if he is saying something naughty and he starts to get in trouble, he says, "I'm just TEEAASING!" He also does that when he says something funny, and you sort of call him on it. Today at dinner he was saying something weird and I said, "what?" in a laughing voice. He once again said, "I'm only teeaasing!" A then said, "T you are the biggest teaser ever!" I smiled and sort of laughed at how she said this. She then looked at me and said, "Well, it's true!" I said "I know," and was really laughing at this point. If only I could convey how the kids say things, not just what they say, it would be so much more funny.

Fun around the 4th

The last couple of days, we have had a ton of fun. We went up to Brighton on the 4th for breakfast and for a little make shift parade that they do. Really, anyone can be in it and it just goes around the little loop at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. The kids cousins even talked Grandpa into driving them in my sisters Mini Cooper Convertible so that they could throw out candy to everyone. Most cars make it a couple of times around the loop. They made it once before their HUGE bag of candy was empty.

The kids with two of their cousins waiting for breakfast. (above)

Grandpa driving their cousins in the "parade." (below)

We came home and rested for a little bit before we went with the Andersons to another demolition derby. This one was in Ogden. It was supposed to be really amazing, so that is why we went. It was huge. The track was easily three times as big as the Bluffdale one. There were drivers from all over the country, and the crowd was huge (and really a lot more rough of a crowd than the last one). It was a lot more fun to watch though. There were cars that actually drove completely on top of other cars. There were quite a few times cars were knocked on their sides as well. These were professional car crashers, not just the amateurs that we all drive on the streets with each day! There was a fireworks show after, that was fun as well. I was carrying the kids to the car after the event. I knew they were exhausted, so I did not make them walk the whole way back. We were almost to our car, parked on a very dimly lit street. Suddenly there was an explosion six inches from my left foot. It stung my foot and leg and hurt quite a bit. I thought some aimless firework had hit me. Nope! Some complete idiots sitting on their porch had made a dry ice bomb and just watched and waited for it to explode next to the sidewalk. I guess this was their idea of a prank. Had I not been carrying the kids, one of them would have been walking right on top of where the bomb exploded. I am SOOOOO glad that they consider that funny. The kids asked what happened. I told the kids very loudly (so that there was no way that the people who did the bomb could not hear me) that some people do really stupid things and unfortunately we have to be around those kind of people some times. I feel very blessed and watched over that I happened to be carrying the kids, or else it could have been disastrous.

One car underneath another, with a third car basically welded to the wreckage after some crazy impacts.

It is probably hard to tell from this picture, but they had to bring this tractor in to get one car off of the other car. Instead of merely colliding, one car just drove right on top of the other.

Today, we went boating for the majority of the day. The Andersons came with us this time as well. T and A loved riding in the tube. T figures he no longer needs some adult, he just wants to ride with friends or cousins. He always screams "faster, go faster." Anytime they hit a huge "bump" in the water, they would grin ear to ear. A rode on the tube and was more than willing to let me get her completely wet by splashing her with my hand, but would not sit in the tube because the water was just too cold. We did some wakeboarding, waterskiing, and a whole lot of tubing. Everyone even celebrated my birthday with me. We had pizza and then cookies and ice cream after the boating was over. They didn't need to do all that, it is just another day, but it sure was nice of them. The kids were so cute as we were driving home and kept singing me "Happy Birthday!" They asked if I had a good birthday and were so excited to give me presents and to watch me open them. They wanted to be involved with everything. It was so sweet and cute of them to make sure I had a good birthday. Really, it is hard to have a bad birthday when you spend it boating all day.

Four friends posing for a picture on the back of the boat in front of the huge tube. The Andersons also have a one year old cute little girl. She gets missed on most pictures because of her age (yes, apparently 4 year old kids do practice age discrimination). A usually plays with the younger of the two here and T plays with the older. A in particular is always concerned if their little girl is going to be there though.

God Bless America

Tonight at the fireworks show we attended they only played two patriotic songs in the 30 minutes of fireworks. I thought to myself, "this is unbelievable, what does this other music have to do with our nation's birthday?" I recently learned the history of the song "God Bless America." It is amazing and I invite everyone to learn about it. On the birthday of our country, I found myself thinking how blessed we are. We certainly have so many challenges, political and otherwise, right now. There are so many problems to fix, and I feel that now more than ever before we have drifted far from the vision of our founding fathers. However, we still live in the greatest country on Earth. I believe that God has preserved this country time and time again and kept it a "land of liberty." We are all so blessed to have the freedoms, necessities, and luxuries that this great land through our Eternal Father has afforded us. We must be grateful and show our gratitude for the great blessing it is to be an American. I think if we remember what we are blessed with we and have gratitude in our hearts we are more likely to choose the right. I believe that it is only through wickedness that we would lose the many blessings this land gives unto us. So today on our countries birthday I have great hopes and dreams for our country. Certainly we have a long road, but I think we MUST stand up and be grateful and proud to be Americans. There is no reason to be ashamed of that blessing. I am grateful to say that I am an American. So many (even within) would cast shame and awfulness on this great country of ours. I stand next to the flag with pride and with gratitude. I am grateful for all the generations of time that have fought and continue to fight to make and keep us free. I proudly proclaim that God has blessed this nation and continues to do so. May we not take for granted this land, our rights, our liberties, our freedom, our religion, our families, or anything else that comes from the freedoms we as Americans enjoy. So, I humbly and proudly say, "God Bless America!"

Funniest Voicemail EVER!

So, I found this voicemail clip. It is one of the funniest things I have ever heard. I am going to try to track this guy down and hook him up with the girl who cut my hair last time. I hope you all find it half as funny as I did. Maybe you guys could listen for some techniques that I should use when trying to pick up a girl.

To Goatee or not to Goatee, that is the question

So, normally I would not post pictures of myself. I can only imagine all the dry heaving that must take place as soon as anyone sees my face. However, I am looking for some advice from all of you in bloggerdom. I don't really care if you are some blog stalker I don't know, or a close friend. Really if I even remotely know you, I probably would love to know that you read my blog. In fact, I am thinking that only 2 people read it, so if you could prove me wrong that would be fantastic. You can post your opinion as yourself or make it completely anonymous. I am sure you can tell by the title of this post what the question might be. So I am asking for your opinions. I included two pictures one with the new glasses that I picked up Saturday and one without. Comment yes for the goatee and no against the goatee. Also, let's all refrain from stating the blatantly obvious that I am ugly no matter what. You can compare these pictures to the normal one that is at the top left of the blog with the kids.

So, yes I finally got glasses. I have needed them for literally five years. I am sure that I am going to get contact lenses soon. It is not terrible to have glasses, but I do not want to buy prescription sunglasses, deal with the whole swapping glasses, clip-ons, etc. It seems to me at this point that contacts would be much less of a hassle. I do have to let my eyes adjust before I do that though. I have yet to go an entire day wearing them because my brain gets tired from focusing so hard all day. Today was close, but I will just have to keep working at it.

• Last Friday when we were wiping down the boat and getting it all cleaned up the kids asked why we needed to do all of that. I explained that we need to take really good care of other people's things especially when they are so nice and let us borrow them. I also told them that it was really nice of Grandpa to let us use his boat because it cost a lot of money, so we especially want to treat it nice. Being the curious kids that they are, they asked how much money. I told them how much only because I knew they would not comprehend the number. They would only know that it was a huge number. T said, "Whoa! I bet the price tag was huge, did they have to get some really huge scissors to cut it off with?" Apparently he thinks that the size of a price tag rises in proportion to price. If that is true, I am thinking he has only seen really little price tags for the majority of his life.
• A was really cute the other day. T was really sad and so A offered to let T cuddle with Milky. If you don't know how special Milky is to A then you can read about it. It was a big deal! You could tell what a sacrifice it was and how much she loves T to be willing to make that sacrifice. I was so proud of her and told her many times that day.
• T keeps calling me a shepherd now that I have a goatee. I don't know where he thought up that, but he is hilarious. He especially loves to call me that when we are wrestling. He says, "all right you shepherd, now you're going to get it!" I don't know where he comes up with this stuff, but I am thinking he has a career as a stand up comedian one day.