Friday, August 28, 2009

pants

This is a little embarrassing to mention but it is kinda funny and maybe there are some people that have run into the same problem.

Yesterday morning I woke up and found a bunch of folded clothes on the bed. There were teeshirts, polo shirts and pants all folded neatly in a stack. As the clothes teetered, I decided to put them all in their rightful place. I picked up the shirts, hung some, stuffed some in a drawer. I picked up the pants and placed them in my drawer nice and neat. I then went through my regular routine of taking a shower, combing my hair, brushing my teeth etc. I went back into the bedroom and grabbed one of the polo shirts I had just put away and the jeans that were on top in my drawer. Everything was going well. My shirt felt a little snug but it always does after it has been washed, plus, I wear a "medium" polo shirts which, I am told by "What not to wear", is what size I should be wearing. (What's wrong with being a medium?) I then put on my pants and took out my belt. As I put my belt on, the belt hit the leather tag at the back, which it normally doesn't do, but I dismissed it without a second thought.

As I was leaving for the day, I grabbed by keys, wallet and cellphone (these are my weapons of war in the modern day battle). I guess I didn't notice until I put my wallet in, that my back pocket really wasn't big enough. I thought that was kind of funny but washing jeans always does funny things to your clothes. I walked out to the car and put my hands into my pockets for my keys and I noticed that my front pockets seemed a little small. Well, they were regular size but not as deep. Again, I dismissed it and drove off to work.

Once I was at work, my brain kept giving me subtle hints that something was amiss with my pants. My brain kept on reminding me that the pockets were small, there was a leather label on my pants and my wallet just doesn't fit like it normally does. I knew it could not be true, but my brain had assessed the citation and told me that I was wearing Deanna's jeans. I didn't want to make a big deal about it at work as it might cause way too much imbarrassment for myself. And I wasn't about to go to a job site with the possibility of having someone notice that I had women's jeans on. So, I picked a suitable time to leave and ran home for a few minutes to confirm my suspicions.

On arrival, I took off the pants, and looked for a tag. If the tag said size 12, they were womens, if they said size 32X32 they were mens. I looked at the brown leather tag on the back of the jeans and it said Ralph Lauren (Could that be a guy's jean label?) Ralph is a guy isn't he? However, there is a Lauren name on it too which sounds very much like a woman's name. This tag didn't help we with my sleuthing. Finally, a tag with the size, (12). RATS, I had accidently put on my wife's jeans again. I grabbed another pair of pants, put them on and everything was right with the world again.



Disclaimer
Deanna's currently wears a slim and trim size 10 jean. The size 12's that are mentioned in the above post are her old pants that no longer fit her.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Marriage Stats

Marriage Year 1993
1 Temple Marriage
16 years of marriage
5 apartments
4 cities (Provo Utah, Sandy Utah, Idaho Falls Idaho, Twin Falls Idaho)
2 houses
9 cars: Lynx, Honda, Mazda 626, zippy, pickup, voyager, grand caravan, F150, Altima
8 different jobs
4 wonderful kids (2 boys, 2 girls)
2 trips to Disney Land
1 trip to Hawaii
2 trips to the emergency room

Friday, August 21, 2009

Announcement

I have an announcement to make today on my blog. I have started a NEW BLOG called LDS Family.net!!!

I am very excited. It all started about 2 weeks ago when I read a blog post by LDS Web Guy that mentioned a program called SiteAdopt.org. I decided to check it out and found this non-profit organization called More Good Foundation. They are an organization that is trying to promote positive content about Mormons. What an interesting idea I thought. I continued my investigation and found and email address and volunteered to adopt a website.

After a couple of discussions, they were more than willing to give me a shot at adopting a website. My website is called, LDSFamily.net. How cool is that? I will now be posting just like I have here on my blog, but I will be focusing on stuff that happens to me as it pertains to my membership in the LDS Church. So, when people go searching around the internet, and type in Mormon, or LDS, or LDS family, they will find my blog and find good positive content about the church. YES, I can even count it as missionary work!!! Ok, not really. Maybe I'll get a half of a check mark on my score sheet in heaven.

Now that I think about it, how often did I mention that I was LDS in my blog? How many times did I mention that I was LDS? Probably not very often if not at all. How embarrassing really. Anyway, I'll be changing my ways now and hopefully promote good positive content in the future.

I hope you will all add my new blog to your readers and come check out my new site once in a while.

LDS Family Dot Net

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Sunflower

During the school year last sping, Katie's teacher gave everyone a sunflower seed. They took time in class to talk about sunflowers and then each of them took a small paper cup, dumped some dirt inside and then planted their own sunflower. They left their little miniature gardens in their classroom until the end of school. Each of them carefully took their little sunflower home to watch it grow over the summer. At this time, the little sun flower was only a few inches tall.

At that point, Katie delivered her sunflower into my care. I wasn't sure what to do with it so I decided to take it out into my sprouting garden and plant it in the ground. I had no faith nor hope that this little plant would survive in the harsh outdoor environment after basking in the warm inviting climate controlled classroom. Nevertheless, we found a spot in the garden and plopped the sprout in the dirt.

Over the summer, I watched it grow, still not thinking much about the flower. I began to take serious notice of this plant after it had grown to about chest high. As it continued to grow and tower over my 5'10" frame, I knew we had something special. I took Katie out one evening and took a video of her with her sunflower. We quickly uploaded it to YouTube, and send a link to her teacher which was overjoyed to see that at least one of those sunflowers from class had reached maturity.


Friday, August 14, 2009

Red and Brown

I have to be very careful today. I have decided to wear a combination Brown Slacks with a Red Polo shirt. For some reason, when I wear this combination of clothing, I have this very intense urge to shop at Target.



When I arrive at Target, I enter the doors and start on my usual path to the electronics department. (I love looking for good deals on cell phones and computer equipment) On my way, I inevitably get stopped several times by other shoppers. I don't know why, but when I wear the red and brown duds, I become the most knowledgeable person in the store. People stop me to ask where things are, ask for prices on items, and ask for directions to the bathrooms. I don't quite get it.

Clint

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Oquirrh Temple

I thought I would post a quick picture or two about the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple. Before our family reunion, we decided to take the kids down to SLC and let them walk through the temple before it was dedicated. A friend of mine told me that whenever they had a temple open house that was fairly close to Idaho, they always tried to make a trip with the kids to go see it. The idea being that they really will not be able to see the inside of a temple until they are ready to get married or go on a mission. So, what a great way to get them familiar with the temple.

One last thing. They had some big tents setup to view a quick video and another tent setup for a reception. Our kids commented that it was the "Nicest tent they had ever been in". It was like a Harry Potter tent where you think it is going to be this small tent with white walls and when you walk in, it is like you stepped into a palace.

Here are some pictures of our visit.





Tuesday, August 11, 2009

EFY

This year we have decided to send Coby off to EFY (Especially For Youth). We didn't have enough dough to send him to a program that was "on campus", so we sent him to an area program in Ogden. My parents were nice enough to let him and his two friends stay at their house in Bountiful the whole week.

I don't know why I am so excited for him but I just feel giddy about the whole idea. I'm pretty sure I'm more excited than he was. I really hope Coby sees that there are many more youth out there struggling just like he is to live the standards of the gospel. I hope he meets other young men and women that are striving to get good grades, striving to keep the commandments and striving to make themselves better.

Too many times our youth are put down for trying to be better. How great would it be if the youth of today would build each other up instead of tearing each other down.

Positive Peer Pressure!

I listened to a talk this weekend about "positive peer pressure". The speaker talked about how awesome it would be if the youth could influence other youth to be better, to straighten up, to reach higher. Adult leaders are great but youth have MUCH more impact on their peers than adults do.

I've been a youth before. I know that it is hard enough just trying to keep your own self esteem above water. I know that only the strongest youth can walk over and pick someone else up out of their hardships. I just hope we can help teach and train these youth to see their worth so they can be the strength for those that are faltering.

It is very interesting to look at the Junior High years and High School years from the other side of the Adult / Youth fence. I think I would have handled those year differently if I had known what I know now.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Clunker Dealer



I don't know why anyone hasn't thought of it yet, but with so many people clamoring to take advantage of the "Cash for Clunkers" program through the US Government, why isn't there a crop of Clunker Dealers sprouting up all of the nation.

Since I haven't see anyone pick up on this idea, maybe I'll be the first to open up a Clunker Dealership.

All I will have to do is drive through some of the mobile home parks here in Twin Falls and offer $100.00 to each person that has a clunker in their driveway, or parked on their lawn or even up on blocks. I'm pretty sure I would walk away with several hundred clunkers after one pass through one trailer park. Then, I put these clunkers on a car lot and offer them as available clunkers for the Cash for Clunkers program. I would certify that they are clunkers, charge the customer $500 for the clunker and then tow it to the "new car dealership" for them so they can get a $4,500 rebate. Everyone wins. The Trailer parker makes $100.00 for a car they would never use and probably haven't used for decades, I make some bucks, and the new car buyers gets their new car for $4,000 cheaper.

I think it would be a great business. If I knew where (bring it back) Clancy was living these days, I'd team up with him to make it happen.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Skits at Talent Show

We had some fun this year at our family reunion by gathering together and singing some songs and doing some skits.

This first skit of Coby and I doing a skit called "Banadana".






This is a skit by Blake, Grandpa Carter and I. It is called "Quick Draw McGraw".






Grand Mother's Tea Party







If I weren't a Carter Song


Saturday, August 01, 2009

In Memory of Grandpa Wardle

Last weekend Deanna's Father, and our Grandpa Wardle passed away. He died doing what he loved best, serving his family, and driving his favorite truck. Grandpa Wardle was a no nonsense kind of guy that would give you the shirt off of his back if you asked for it. He loved all of his children and grand children equally and would do or give anything to make sure they were happy. Grandpa Wardle always had a story to tell about his family, his work, or his friends. When he was on a roll, his local Idaho accent came ringing through giving you a sense of comfort, like you were home sitting on the couch. Grandpa Wardle was always up for fixing your car if you had any trouble. I can remember several stories told when he would get up in the middle of the night to rescue a stranded son or daughter when their car broke down. Personally, I remember having Grandpa Wardle help me replace the U join on my little Honda Civic. After many mild cursings of "Cotton Picker" and "Pot Licker"'s, we were able to remove all of the pieces and parts, and put it all back together again.

Our kids loved Grandpa Wardle. He would take them to McDonalds and would always offer to go to the store to buy us "mugs". We have decided to remember Grandpa Wardle by going out to the store and buying mugs every year. He was definitely a quiet strength for our family.



We will miss Grandpa Wardle. When I think about him, I can still feel his spirit and it gives me peace.