First Half 2016

The first half of 2016 has been a wild ride.  To make is short, I took a new job with PMT as a technical sales person.  My official title is Account Manager but I really am tasked with the job of finding new sales opportunities.  I have been blessed to have been let to this job.  It is helped our family in more ways than one.

In March I went to see the dermatologist about a spot on my calf.  It turned out to be Melanoma Skin Cancer.  My world changed at that point and a process was started.  I was referred to the Huntsman Center where I underwent 2 surgeries to try and catch the cancer before it had spread too far.  With the faith of family and friends, after the second surgery I was considered cancer free.  I simply had to heal from the surgeries and go on with life.  I am currently participating in a clinical trial of a drug that possibly would fight off melanoma.  So, every 2 weeks I go to the Huntsman Center and undergo shots and blood work.  Not a big deal.

Savanna has had a summer of travel and fun.  She has been to Girls State, Key Club Convention in Atlanta Georgia, Girls Camp, YASE camp at BYU and a High Adventure Camp.  I think she is happy to be home for a while.

Katie has been working on her Volleyball skills by attending a few camps this summer.  She is excited to become a 9th grader at Twin Falls High School but she is a little worried that the classes might be too hard.  She has also started Drivers Ed.  Yikes, she will be driving us around soon.  I'm sure she will be great.

Andy left on a mission in January.  He was called to the Nebraska Omaha mission.  He has been serving in Lincoln for the past few months and recently was transferred to Council Bluffs Iowa.  He was asked to be a trainer of a new missionary.  He was also asked to "white wash" the area so he has triple duty.  New area, New companion, senior companion.  That is a lot to take on all at once.  I hope he isn't overwhelmed.  He seems to be doing well and he seems to be loving the work.

Coby finished off his first year at BYUI.  He had school from August of 2015 till July of 2016.  He was studying electrical engineering but has really liked his programming classes so he has switched to computer programming.  He enjoys what he is doing and learning.  He is now home for the summer and has found 2 jobs.  One is working for a local Physical Therapist that needs his help creating and editing and organizing medical forms.  He has a second job working for Agri-Service where he will be working in the IT department as a help desk tech.  This is right down his ally.  He should get tons of hours and have enough money to get back into school starting January 2017.

Deanna has been driving Clint back and forth to Salt Lake City the last few months for his surgeries and follow up visits.  She is totally sick of the drive but has been a trooper to help Clint though this very difficult time.  She has also kept working as a Kindergarten Teacher.  She even kept her job teaching summer school for some extra money.

I almost forgot, with all of this going on over the last 6 months, we also moved out of our house on Chase Drive and got it ready to put on the market.  It has been for sale for a couple of months now but has not been sold.  We now living in my parents house at 526 Monte Vista.  The girls love it here and are happy for the move.  We are also in the 1st ward now and enjoy a full ward.  We have been blessed beyond measure even though we have had some hard times.  I am currently working on a story about what has happened during my "cancer" months to let everyone know the blessings we have received even though I did have cancer.  The Lord was watching out for us and had put all of the pieces in place for us to help us survive.  There is no doubt in my mind that we had divine intervention in multiple times in multiple locations.

I am teaching a seminary class today about family history.  I hadn't posted something here for quite a while so I thought I would update it.  I do consider this a little bit of family history.  Someday a grand kid or great grand kid will look this up and say, "I didn't know grandpa had cancer"!  What is cancer anyway?  Hahahah, it will probably be a non issue at the point in the history of the world.

Christmas Letter 2015

This year has been crazy, fun, exciting, busy, relaxing and stressful.  

To start out, we had a graduating senior, a return missionary, 2 college students, Jive performances, volleyball matches, State Tennis Tournament, a trip to Disneyland, a service project in Mexico and, wait for it, wait for it….. A trip to Hawaii!!!

Andy had a very eventful year this year.  He practiced tennis almost all of last year with his doubles partner with the goal of going to state and with the possibility of winning state.  After going undefeated in district play, he and his partner were ranked #2 in the State Tournament.  We were all on pins and needles during each match of the Tournament and watched all of the other teams to see how good they were.  After the first round, we could tell that it was going to be close but that Andy and Matt had a really good chance of winning.  After several more matches, they reached the finals and played a doubles team from Caldwell.  In two short sets, Andy and Matt became the Champions in 4A Men's Doubles Tennis!!  Andy had a busy year performing in Jive and preparing for Graduation.  He walked across the stage and received his diploma while we held up a huge banner stating, “#AndyDidIt”.  Andy also was accepted into BYUI and has been attending the fall semester.  Andy received his mission call just a couple of weeks ago. He was called to serve in the Nebraska, Omaha Mission.  He reports to the MTC January 20th.  We are very excited for him and we have heard wonderful things about his mission already.

Our long lost son has returned from his LDS Mission in Tijuana Mexico.  Deanna and Clint went down to Mexico to pick him up and get to know his areas and some of the people he worked with while serving. We had an AWESOME time with Coby while we traveled around Tijuana, Ensenada and Primo Tapia.  It was so great to see all of the people he served and taught.  It was cool to see the places he lived in and the companions he had.  Once Coby returned home, he worked as hard as he could to earn enough money for college.  He, like his brother, attended the fall semester at BYU Idaho.  In fact, they were roommates.  I think they have both enjoyed being together over these last few months.  

Savanna has entered her Junior year in High School.  She is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and is planning for what happens next in life.  She has taken on several things this year which is normal for a Junior.  She made the performance choir, Jive, again.  She is also the Key Club President and she has started a new job working as a file clerk in the judicial building of the county clerk’s office.  She is enjoying the fact that she has money and can spend it any way she wants.  She is planning on playing Tennis again this year with the hopes of playing on the varsity team.  Last year she played in the Capital Invitational Tennis Tournament in Boise and took 4th place in Girls 3rd Singles.

Katie played volleyball this last year and has done very well.  She is probably one of the top five players in her 8th grade class.  They split her team into two different teams so when she gets to High School, I think she will shine.  Katie is in 8th grade this year and is looking forward to going to High School next fall.  She has grown up quite a bit this year and is measuring every day to see if she is taller than her Dad.  I’m going to have to start sporting some elevator shoes just to keep my pride and height in tact.

Clint has been working with Integrated Technologies this year and has done very well.  However he will be starting a new job at a new company in January called PMT (Project Mutual Telephone).  He will still be in technical sales but will have new responsibilities and new products to sell.  PMT is a much larger company with better benefits and better support.  He is excited for this new adventure but sad to leave some of his friends at Integrated Technologies.  Clint has been very involved with the lives of his kids and enjoyed all of the trips and activities with everyone this last year..

Deanna has been busy keeping everyone together, everyone busy and keeping all of the schedules synchronized.  Deanna is still working at Sawtooth Elementary as a Kindergarten teacher.  She loves her job and enjoys the little 5 year old students.  Deanna is very active in the School District and serves on many committees.  This last year she won a grant to bring ipad mini’s into her classroom.  They have been a huge success and the kids love it.

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Clint, Deanna, Coby, Andy, Savanna and Katie

Music From My Mother

MUSIC

I was sitting in the living room of Melinda’s house recently listening to Tara play on their beautiful grand piano.  I started to think about how grateful I was that we had such beautiful music in our family.  Thomas, Will, Tara, Megan and Luke all have taken piano lessons and several have been in band playing various instruments.  In Clint’s family Coby and Andy play the piano, with Katie and Savanna still taking lessons.  Coby, Andy and Savanna are singers and have performed with Jive, a high school specialty music group.  In Rachael’s family all the kids can play the piano with Samantha playing the flute very well.  Tiffany’s family are taking piano lesson right now and Analee’s daughter is just beginning.

Where did this all come from?  Let me tell you the story.

When I was quite young we had an old piano in the house.  I remember Van playing lots of popular music on it.  I don’t remember who he took lessons from.  But by the time I was about 8, Leon, Lynn and I began taking piano lessons from Mary Abrams in West Point.  She was very patient with us and I looked forward to going to her small house up a long lane in the west most part of West Point.  She was a widow lady and I think her living came from the lessons.  Most kids in the area took lessons from her.

Lynn and Leon stopped lessons some time when they were in the early teens, but I kept taking for quite a while.  We would have recitals at the church each year and half of the ward turned out to hear our memorized pieces.

As I went to Jr. High I began taking lessons with a man in Ogden named Wayne Devereaux.  He was a wonderful musician and brought me along in my abilities. The lessons were given at the old Ogden Tabernacle. It was a big deal to drive from West Point to Ogden and I know my parents sacrificed to allow me to study with him.  He assigned much more difficult exercises and introduced me into concertos and much more difficult music.  But alas, after a couple of years I got lazy in my practicing and didn’t progress as I should.  Finally, I just stopped going.  

My mother especially encouraged me to play the piano.  I’m sure much hard earned money went to see that we had the opportunity in music.  I didn’t appreciate that at the time and wasted the opportunity that was given me.  

Mom and Dad tried to help the boys as they got to the end of their high school years by giving them a car.  It certainly wasn’t new but they took great pride in them.  I didn’t get a car.  My parents decided to take that money and give me a piano.  Little did they know at the time the great blessing and joy that would bring to me in the years ahead.  Many times my mother commented that it was only a few years and the cars they bought the boys were sold and gone.  But the piano they invested in for me has not yet stopped yielding me and my family much musical joy.

I learned to love music and loved not only playing classical pieces but many popular song and pieces.  When we lived in Chicago I gave a few piano lessons to the children of some friends, the Nelsons.  When we moved to Buhl, I continued giving a few lessons.  That’s when I would sometimes sit at the piano and teach my little Melinda a few notes and songs.

After we moved to Twin Falls and the children grew old enough to play, we started what seemed like a never-ending string of piano lessons, oboe lessons, trumpet lessons and drum lessons.  One of the first teachers was Jane Lebowitz.  She was an elderly lady who smoked like a trooper.  But she really was great in teaching basic beginning piano.  Later I drove the kids to Filer to take lessons from Mrs. Garrish.  She was great as well.  All the kids would go in a pile and have to wait while the others took their lessons.  We would pass the time reading and sometimes take walks around their country home.  In the spring we would take our paper bags and gather asparagus while we waited.  

As the kids got older we heard of another teacher right in Twin Falls.  Her name was Teala Balini Percin.  She and her mother were very accomplished pianists and had a great reputation.  So off we went to her house.  She also was particular about the skills and music.  She brought the kids to a much higher level of performance.

It was while we were studying with her that we started participating in not only piano recitals but in music festivals.  Festivals were where you played privately before some judges and they critiqued your skills and performance.  The goal was to get a “Superior”.   After so many “Superior” performances you were given a gold cup. That was the goal of each of the children to achieve that accomplishment.  They all did quite well.

I think Melinda really loved music and because of her piano, was chosen to participate in Madrigals.  At the time, this high school singing group was very popular and they really had some fun opportunities to perform in the community.  Melinda played the piano.  Her musical abilities grew so much with this experience.

Unfortunately, the first child to want to drop out of piano was Blake.  He really struggled to hear the notes or feel the rhythm.  Huge mistake!!!  I let him quit. He wanted to play drums so we bought drums and he had drum lessons.  It wasn’t long before Rachael and Clint were too involved with other activities, mostly sports, and they wanted to quit.  Big mistake!!  I let them quit.  I can’t really remember why I let that happen, maybe because with six children it involved a lot of extra running around.  I don’t really know.  But I really missed the boat with that.  Tiffany and Analee were still taking but soon Tiffany stopped practicing and soon quit going to lessons.  

I started to wise up with Analee.  Even when she was in high school and really involved in sports, I made her continue with lessons.  I told her that I didn’t care if she practiced but I wanted her to continue lessons.  I had a vision I guess, that warned me that she would need this skill in the future and would bless the wards she would be in because she could play the piano.

When I met Gordon, one of the talents that I really appreciated with him was his singing voice.  He sung in concert choir at BYU and had been chosen for a special quartet in his mission.  They called themselves the Mormon Sons.  He had played the trumpet in high school and even had his own dance band.  He played the guitar and sang the ballads that his dad had loved and played.  He has always enjoyed the participation of our family as we have sung together.  Our favorite ballad is Old Folks, Young Folks!  It always brings a smile as we sing about the Bible Stories.

I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted the children all to be great pianists.  I took them to concerts and tried to have good music in our home.  But in the end, most of them were average or a little above in their abilities.  A lot of that was because I wasn’t very strict in making them practice as they should.  But some of it was their choices and abilities.

HOWEVER, I have realized that all that time and money and effort was not lost.  Each family has a love for music and appreciate the abilities of others.  Some like Clint, have branched out and developed their singing talent.  Blake, Clint and Analee have picked up the guitar and have a good time with that instrument.  Rachael and Melinda and Analee have participated in small singing groups in their wards.  Tiffany bought a piano and began teaching a few students and now helps with her children.  Analee did the same.

In each home there is music.  Tara Sant is amazing.  She is writing her own music and it is beautiful.  She has a touch on the piano that is a real gift. Tom and Will are great on the piano as well.   Samantha Wight has a gift with the flute.  Savanna not only clogs but has seen a real opportunity as a performer in Jive. Coby and Andy play the piano well and also are such good singers. 

So Mom and Dad Blake, I thank you!  After all these years I really appreciate what you have given my family.  It is a legacy of joy for us all.

Year End 2014

It seems that every year I write a blog post that goes through all of the stats about my life online.   So, I went to last years posts and..... didn't find anything. So I went to the year before and ..... nothing.  I'm sure I've writing posts about the end of each year but for some reason, I can't find even one of them. Oh well, I'm sure it happened at some point so here we go with the things that happened in my life on the internet.

We will start with Youtube.  Here are my top most viewed videos in 2013 and 2014 because I guess I didn't do this last year.  So, coming in at #1 was a video I took while going on a zip line in the Snake River Canyon with a Leadership Group in 2013.






Coming in at number 2 is .....  Andy's Prom Pictures!!!





Coming in 3rd place, which was a surprise, is the Carters doing the Harlem Shake.  That was in 2013 by the way.





And finally, even though this did not make the top three, I'm most proud of this video that we made with Jive in 2013. It is a promotional video to advertise the Jive performance in the Spring.  It was a lot of fun to make and learn how to produce a "real" video.




Ok, that is it for Youtube for 2013 and 2014.

Now to some of my new favorite websites from 2014.

I have been watching some online videos to help me learn about how to use a MacMini that I bought this year.  On one of those videos the youtuber mentioned a couple of sites that would be great for building an intro for videos.  He mentioned a site called FIVERR.  So, I checked it out and found a bunch of really cool stuff you can buy for just 5 BUCKS!!!!!   So, I decided to try it out.  My first try was to have someone create a logo for me for my webstore called eCarters.com.  I sent off the request and this is what I got back for $5 bucks.

Not bad but not great.  So, I submitted another one to animate a logo for the company that I work at Integrated Technologies.  This is what I received back for $5.00.

Now that was awesome!!! So, I decided to send off a request to have our family made into a caricature for our Christmas Card.  This is what I received back for only $15.00

We loved it so we printed it up about 30 times and sent it off to all of our friends and family this year.  So, if you want a fun website, check out http://www.fiverr.com.

Christmas Letter 2014

In some ways this year has gone by very quickly and in some ways it has been very slow going.  Slow, because we wait to hear every week from our son serving on a mission in Tijuana Mexico and FAST because of the many activities that our family is involved in each and every day.

Coby has now been serving a mission for a year and a half.  He has spent most of his time in the city of Tijuana and only recently was he transferred outside of Tijuana to a little city on the coast of Mexico called Primo Tapia.  He has served as a trainer, financial secretary and senior companion.  His current area is a very small town with a very small branch.  He has grown and matured while serving the Lord and we anxiously await our chance to talk to him again this Christmas.  We are planning on picking him up from his mission in June so we are excited to see him again next year.

Andy has been very busy working on his tennis game.  He plays several times a week and attended a BYU Tennis camp last summer.  He is hoping to get into the finals this year in men’s doubles.  He has a great partner and I think they have a good shot at State.  Andy has also made the Jive performance choir at the Twin Falls High School.  He has also been elected to the student council as the treasurer and spends many hours helping the student council conduct activities and events.  Just a couple of weeks ago Andy completed his final merit badge to earn his Eagle Scout Rank.  If we were to be specific, we would tell you that he submitted his Eagle Scout paperwork only hours before his 18th birthday.  We are breathing a sigh of relief!

Savanna has hoped and dreamed of joining the Jive Performance Choir since she was a little girl.  During her tryout last spring she could not get the music to play on her phone as background music for her audition.  She just decided to sing it acapella.  She ran home devastated that she had missed her opportunity to be in Jive.  A few agonizing days later she found out that she had made callbacks even though her audition was a disaster.  Dancing is her forte so she passed that portion with flying colors and now enjoys singing and dancing with JIVE.  She is in heaven each time she is on stage.  So, Savanna and Andy have loved being in Jive together this year.  The down side to Jive is that she had to give up clogging.  We no longer have the pitter pat and clickity clack of her little feet in our house.

Katie has always wanted to try out for volleyball.  When she played little pickup games with the family, she always played well for her age.  So, this year, she tried out for the O’leary Middle School 7th grade volleyball team and made it.  At first, she had to learn a lot about the game but she picked it up very quickly.  By the end of the season she was one of the girls that got the most playing time.  She even was able to serve the ball with confidence.  Her team didn’t do so well but they all improved tremendously over the short season last fall.  Katie will be playing on a traveling team this winter to better her skills and be ready for next season.  She had to give up soccer for volleyball but I think she is pleased with her decision.

Deanna walked across the stage last spring at Northwest Nazarene College to receive her Masters Degree in Reading.  She insists that we continue calling her Master Mom.  Deanna is still teaching at Sawtooth Elementary as a Kindergarten teacher.  She really loves her job and the little 5 year olds that she teaches. She has looked at other grade levels but really loves where she is at and who she works with.  She comes home with the best stories about these little kindergartners that continue to make us laugh. Deanna is also serving in the Young Women’s program in our ward and loves goofing around with the young women and the young women leaders.  There are many nights when she just sits in the car with her other leaders and talks till her husband comes out and dragged her inside.  

Clint is still working at Integrated Technologies as a Technical Sales person.  He has done very well this year and has earned the trust of his employers.  Earlier this year he was promoted to Sales Manager and now manages 3 other sales people.  Integrated Technologies is growing and Clint sees many opportunities to grow in this company.  Clint continues to be busy with his calling on the high council. He works with another ward, so new members of our ward usually think that Deanna is either a single mom, has a less active husband, or they are a part member family. We use that to get the missionaries to come over more to help activate him, but they eventually figure it out and then come over just for fun!

We hope that this year has been full of many joys and blessings, as it has been for us! We are thankful each day for the blessing of our Savior and for His redeeming love.

Merry Christmas!

Clint, Deanna, Coby, Andy, Savanna, and Katie

Another Blog?

By boss at Integrated Technologies just got called on a mission to Cebu Philippines.  He is not serving a regular mission, he is serving as the Mission President.  So, with my vast blogging experience, I was asked to start a blog for their mission.  If you would like to check it out you can see it at cebumission.blogspot.com.

I know I have been neglecting this blog lately so I'll try to update it more often.

Clint

Rhonda Seamons Questions

My cousin Rhonda Seamons has been putting together some family history information and send me a couple of questions that she needed for the book.  I answered them to the best of my ability and so I decided to post the answers on my blog since I haven't done a post in a while.  here are the questions and answers.



What was the full name of your mission and the years that you were there?

I was called to serve in the Cali, Colombia mission in 1988 and served in that mission until the summer of 1989.  At that point in my mission the church evacuated all of the North American missionaries from Colombia.  I was then transferred to the Quito, Ecuador mission.  After arriving there I received the paperwork that I had been called to serve in the Quito Mission.  I served my second year in that mission until the summer of 1990.  So, I was called and served in two missions.  Cali Colombia and Quito Ecuador.

Have you written up a few sentences about your hobbies and/or your career?

I don't know if I really have any hobbies but I do have a few things I like to do.  For some reason I think of a hobby as making model airplanes or building a chest of drawers or something.  I guess my hobbies are Tennis and the Internet.  I love building websites.  I love updating my blogs.  I love how the internet works and brings information to people.  Somehow I have converted my love for the internet and computers and made a career out of it.  I still build websites for people, I fix computers for people, I sell computers and I help businesses become more efficient and more effective.  In a few short words I guess you could say I'm a computer geek.  What is very interesting is that in my patriarchal blessing which was given to me when I was a teenager, it states, "You shall become involved in administration.  You will understand the complexities of the world of business that you might be able to learn those things which will allow you to contribute to the success of men and women here upon the earth."  Now, how in the world would a patriarch know that some day I would be a computer geek and understand how computers, servers and networks would effect the business world.  In fact, on all of the computers and server systems I work on, I log in as "administrator".

I also like to play tennis.  I played tennis in High School but didn't really get into it very much.  I played on the High School Tennis Team but I never felt that I was very good.  Now, I have picked up tennis again and I play in a league.  Our team usually makes it to the district tournament in Boise.  I have also started volunteering as an assistant coach for the Twin Falls High School tennis team.  It has been fun to get into tennis again and I have found, that I'm not as bad as I thought I was.

Saving Mr. Banks

I went with my wife to a movie tonight. Saving Mr. Banks.  It is a story about Walt Disney trying to convince Mrs. Travers to use her books about Mary Poppins to create a movie.  I was expecting to see a lot of behind the scenes of the Movie Mary Poppins but was taken on a journey of a young girl dealing with her father that is an alcoholic.

Even though there was no shooting, no bombs, no excitement, I was drawn into the story and started to ponder and wonder and meditate over what was going on.  There was something there for me to understand so I kept my mind open for themes and similarities.

Here are some of the things that ran through my head.  Walt Disney was a genius and surrounded himself with amazing people.  It made me want to be a part of something bigger. What could that "bigger" thing be?  Work?  Family?  Service?  Maybe I still don't know but it made me think of how I could be a part of something bigger.

I thought about people's childhoods and how they could be happy, sad, trials, struggles. I thought of my childhood and how good it was.

I also thought about writing stories.  Mrs. Travers wrote a story about Mary Poppins that was very personal to her. She didn't want someone to take that memory, that personal character that she knew or created and have someone portray it as something silly or goofy.  What are my stories. What is very personal to me.  What story can I tell.  Is there anything in my life that is important to tell other people.

Why do I write this blog.  For some reason I keep coming back to that question. I don't know if I've answered it before.  Is it for me?  Is it for my kids to read?  Is it for my grand kids to read?  Is it for great great grand kids to read?  I don't know.  I've also thought that my kids would look up my blog when I'm dead and use it to find things to talk about at my funeral.  They see me everyday but they don't know what goes on inside my head and what I think about.  Maybe these things will give them a little insight into my life and what I am thinking about. Who knows, maybe they won't look this over at all.  How much do I really look over the writings of my ancestors.  Maybe I should be reading their stuff.

Anyway, it got me thinking so I decided to come home and write something on my blog.  I know, nothing exciting, but at least I wrote something.

2013 Year in Review

It seems that every year a television station or a reporter will do a news story about what happened in the past year.  I follow that same path by posting something at the beginning of each year, or at the end of the year depending on how much time I have.  So, now that I have some time on a Saturday at the beginning of the year, I'll review my posts, youtube vids, and blogs to give you the best of the best for the year.

Top YouTube videos of 2013

There is no question that my best YouTube video of the year is when I was able to get my family together for Family Home Evening and do a Harlem Shake Video.  We had a blast putting it together and each of the family members "went all in".  Unfortunately, I had to be the lone dancer at the beginning of the video which was a little embarrassing but I wanted to make sure everyone danced without reservation so it would be an epic vid for out family.  Make sure you turn up the resolution on the video so it doesn't look so blurry.







Ok, the second most epic video of 2013 probably should have been in first place but it didn't get as many Youtube hits as the first place video.  Second place goes to Coby's mission call.  I took a video of my son Coby opening his mission call and finding out he will be serving as an LDS Missionary in the Tijuana Mexico Mission.






Third place video goes to a video I shot while at the Idaho State Tennis Tournament.  Andy played well at this tournament and the men's team received a 4th place award which hasn't been done in a long long time.





Now for my blog posts of 2013.  I don't know why, but I haven't felt the impulse to write much this year.  I don't know if it is because I don't feel like anyone is reading it or that I have filled my time with other things.  In any case, I only posted 10 times in 2013 so there isn't much to choose from.  I looked on my Google Analytics page and found that our Harlem Shake Video blog post was the most popular so I chose another blog post to be the best.  That post was of my report on dropping off our son Coby to the MTC.

http://littleenoch.blogspot.com/2013/08/missionary.html

So, I think that is about it for 2013.  Hopefully 2014 will bring more blog posts and more YouTube videos.  Happy New Year.

Christmas Letter 2013

It is Christmas time again so I guess it is time to put together another Christmas letter to mail out
to our family and friends.  It is always a good way for me to rewind the year and focus on all of
the good things that happend to us.  This year has definately been filled with blessings,
celebrations, happiness and emotion.

At the beginning of this year, and after the announcement of the age change for missionaries,
Coby decided to come home from college and submit his mission papers.  He returned to his job
at Smiths and began saving up his money to serve a mission.  In February his papers were all
finished and he received his call.  He was called to serve an LDS Mission in the Tijuana Mexico
Mission.  Coby entered the MTC early July and has been serving in Tijuana proper for 4 months
now.  He just finished his 3 month training with his trainer and was called to train a new
missionary right after that.  Deanna and I have both felt a huge sense of Love, Pride, Hope and
Anxiousness as we send our first missionary out into the world.  Each letter we receive brings a
flood of emotions and we find ourselves wiping away tears as we read. We are so thrilled with
Coby's successes and we pray for him every day.  If you would like to read some of his letters,
you can view them on a blog we created.  cobymission.blogspot.com

Andy has really focused on his talent in tennis.  He attended a BYU tennis camp this summer
and learned a ton.  He finished in the top of his pod and feels that he has improved significantly.
Clint is a little nervous about playing him in singles so he has focused on feeding him tennis balls
instead of playing a match. Andy qualified for the State Tennis Tournament.  He played mens
singles and made it to the quarter final round before being defeated.  He has set a goal to make it
back to State next year and maybe even get to the semi­finals.  Andy also decided to try out for
Jive (a high school performance choir).  To our surprised, he made it.  He has performed with
this group 2 or 3 times now and feels like he has a group of friends surrounding him.  In January,
he will be performing in the Jive Showcase which will be dancing and singing.  He has been
working hard but really loves what he is doing.  Andy has also picked up the piano again, on his
own, without lessons and has memoriz ed some very hard pieces.  It is fun to hear the house
filled with music.  We have all memoriz ed his songs to and many of us will sing along in the
other room.

Savanna is really liking 9th grade.  We thought it would be rough being with the big high school
kids but she has taken everything in stride.  Savanna maintains a 4.0 grade point average and
receives praise from her teachers often.  Savanna also is in the top clogging group in her dance
studio.  She is learning all of the top moves and plans on competing in Nationals next spring.
She loves clogging and if she ever is standing still, her feet will start to tap and eventually she will
be in full clogging motion across the floor.  It is fun to hear all of the cool beats and rhythems she
can make up with her feet.  It is quite amaz ing.  Savanna is also singing in an all girls choir called
Bella Voche.  She enjoys singing and performs like a professional.  Her eyes light up and her
face expresses the feeling of the song.  She is fun to watch.Katie has decided to follow in her father and grandfathers footsteps to play the trumpet.  This year she signed up for Band and was chosen to be one of the trumpet players for the 6th grade beginning band.  She has literally started from scratch but has picked up the trumpet with ease and enjoys playing.  She had her first performance last week and did very well.  Katie has also decided to continue her interest in soccar.  This summer she played on a team that was really good and ended up being undefeated.  They tied one game but were not defeated.  Katie will be turning 12 in January and is very excited to begin her experiences in Young Womens.  Deanna is the Beehive advisor so I'm sure they will have many fun together next year.

Clint is still working for Integrated Technologies and has really settled in nicely to the Technical
Sales position.  He has worked hard this year and has been successful.  He is hopeing that next
year will be even better.  Clint has been re­living his mission since Coby was called to serve in
Mexico.  He has been sending Coby weekly letters sending him suggestions and advise on how
to prepare and deal with mission life.  Coby has responded several times that he could not figure
out how Dad knew so much about what he was experiencing.  Hopefully Clint's advise has
helped Coby overcome some of the difficulties and successes of the mission field. Memories of
the mission field have flooded back to Clint's memory and have added to his nostalgia of
participating in Coby's mission experiences.   Clint has also picked back up the tennis raquet. He
helped coach the Twin Falls High School Tennis Team last year and then decided to join a
league this summer.  He started at 3.5 rank and then was moved up toi 4.0 before the end of the
summer.  He went to Boise for the league tournament and bearly lost his doubles match.  He
has continued to play in other leagues and tournaments to try to keep up with Andy.

Deanna has been working very hard to finish her Masters Degree in Reading.  Many evenings,
nights and weekends have been spent in front of the computer writing papers, reading texts,
finishing projects.  This last week she completed her final paper and submitted it.  She has finally
completed all of the work and now qualifies to receive her Masters Degree. In the Spring, she will
walk across the stage at Northwest Naz arine College.  She is very excited about this
achievement and will be thilled to walk across the stage and receive her dimploma.  We are all
so proud of her.  She has worked very hard and her work has always been top notch.  In fact,
she has received straight A's from all of her classes over the last 2 and a half years.  After she
gets her degree, we have all agreed to begin calling her Master Mom.  I'm sure we will sallute or
bow for a few weeks after that event but it might wear off a little over time and she might become
just Mom again.  Deanna has also felt the sturrings of the spirit since she said goodby to her son
Coby when he entered the MTC.  When you ask her about her missionary, her emotions are at
the surface and her tears will be at the ready.  She is so proud of her son and his decision to
serve.  She writes him every week and she tears up in front of her kindergarden students when
reading his letters while still in her classroom on Monday mornings.  She send letters of love,
encouragement, excitement and council each time she writes and reads and re­-reads Coby's
letters each week.  She is no doubt a Missionary Mom.

Well, I think that covers everyone in our family for 2013.  I hope I didn't miss anything.  We have
felt the Lords love and we have received abundant blessings this year.  We pray for all of the
missionaries every day.  We pray for our friends and family that they may be safe and blessed.

We have felt the overwhelming love and support of The Lord and from friends and family as our
son has left on a mission.  We wish your family the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest
New Year.

Love,

The Carters
Clint, Deannna, Elder Carter, Andy, Savanna and Katie

Keyboard

I don't know why I didn't do this earlier but I just bought a little keyboard for my ipad.  I guess I do know why I didn't to it earlier, it is because they are so dang expensive.  I looked around, watched and finally bought a bluetooth keyboard when it was on sale at BestBuy.  I had some points saved up so this little $100.00 keyboard actually cost around $21.00.  So, I'm typing up this little blog post on my new keyboard on my iPad.  What normally takes me about a half of an hour to type in with the on-screen keyboard, has only taken me a few minutes with my full size little keyboard. I love it.  Not only that, but it has a nice little case that I can use.  Not only does it have this nice little case, but it has a little slot that directs the speaker towards the front instead of towards the back.  So, I no longer have to cup my hand around the side of my ipad to hear anything.  Win, Win, Win.

It looks like this one.

New Perspective

This week I have gained a new perspective.  I wasn't sure how to spell perspective so I had to google perspective vs prospective.  It looks like "Prospective" is an adjective meaning (1) likely to happen, or (2) likely to become, whereas "Perspective"  is almost always a noun. It refers to (1) a view, (2) the angle from which something is viewed, and (3) the proper appearance of objects in relation to each other.   So, I have a new PERSPECTIVE.

While I was on my mission I guess I never made the connection that each of the missionaries I came in contact with had concerned parents at home praying for them.  I don't know why I didn't make the connection but NOW, I definitely see a connection.  Why, you might ask?  My oldest son Coby, as many of you already know, has been called to serve a mission in the Tijuana Mexico Mission.  You can read his letters here on this blog that I have created.  Anyway, I have found myself praying that he would have good companions.  I'm haven't just prayed that he would have a good companion in the MTC, but I'm also praying that his first companion in Mexico will be good for him.  Trainers in the mission field are very important.  They help shape how a missionary will obey, teach, learn and grow in the mission.  I am praying that Coby has a good trainer to get him started in the mission field.  Now that I'm praying for this, I think back on the times when I was in the mission field and how I acted and trained missionaries.  Sadly, in some situations, I wished I had had a different perspective.  I wished I would have thought about the concerned parent back home praying for good companions for their son.  I wished I had done a better job as a trainer.  

As Coby goes through the mission experience, I can't help but think about my mission.  Floods of memories come back to me as I think about what Coby is doing and will be doing over the next 2 years.  My kids are probably sick of my pulling out my mission memorabilia and don't was to see that stuff anymore but for me, it brings back fond memories. 

Anyway, I thought I would post this little piece of my life out there for all to see.  All two of you.

Missionary

As I look over what I have blogged about recently and because of a First Presidency Message I read this morning, I have decided to post another blurb about my life on my blog.

It is interesting to note that on this blog, I have not posted anything about my oldest son entering the MTC.  I have posted a little information on my http://www.ldsfamily.net website but nothing here.  So, below, I'm going to post the little video I created of us dropping him off at the MTC.

Coby is a little dazed in this video.  I'm sure he is a little overwhelmed about what is about to happen.  He is probably a little nervous, scared, excited, and anxious all at the same time.  He is also a little tired since we got up really early in the morning to get on the road so we could make it to Provo by 12:00 noon.

Since this video, we have received many emails and one hand written letter.  All of Coby's letters are being posted on yet another blog I have created called http://cobymission.blogspot.com.  So far, all of Coby's letters have been positive, uplifting and exciting.  He is loving the MTC and loves his companion, his district, his Zone Leaders and his classroom instructors.  From his letters it sounds like he is picking up the language fairly quickly.  Coby has always had a knack for memorizing things so we are hoping the he can use this skill to memorize words in spanish.  I know that memorizing words will only get him so far but once he uses a word long enough, the word becomes the meaning and he will start to learn the language.

Our family is so excited to hear from Coby each week.  His P-Day in the MTC is on Thursday so Deanna and I anxiously check our email several times a day to check to see if he has written anything yet.  I usually have my google account open and I click the "refresh" button over an over just hoping that the next time I hit the button, a little bell will go off on my speakers and a new mail cymbol shows up on my screen. Thursdays are very exciting for us.  I must say, that first week was the longest week just waiting to see how Coby was doing, if he liked his comp and how he was doing.  What a HUGE relief to hear that he was loving it.  We couldn't have asked for a better first letter.

So, we have just passed the half way mark for Coby in the MTC.  He has been there 3 weeks and in another 3 weeks he will leave to enter the mission field.  We are a little nervous about his Visa into Mexico.  We have heard many people that are re-assigned to "waiting" missions to wait for their Visa to be approved.  Coby had some problems with his visa so it was submitted late so this could cause Coby to be re-assigned until his Visa is complete.  We have hoping that doesn't happen and he just heads down to Tijuana Mexico on the date planned.  He is scheduled to leave the MTC on August 20th.

Well, that is about it.  I'll post more as we get more information.

Clint

blogging

Has blogging gone by the wayside?  It feels like it has been 6 months since I have posted anything on this blog site.  Now that I take a minute to look, I see that I posted something just last month and before that, I posted something in May.  So, I guess I'm not as bad as I thought I was at posting new stuff.  HOWEVER, when I went to my Google Reader, I was expecting to see a reader full of blog posts from other people that spanned several screens of information.  To my surprise, there weren't very many posts out there.  Why you might ask?  I pondered a moment, checked my facebook account, and then came to a conclusion.  Facebook.  It is much easier to post stuff on Facebook and get people's reactions than to post on your blog.  There is a certain feeling of satisfaction you get when you post something and within a couple of minutes, someone "likes" your post.  You feel validated, acknowledged, encouraged and another word that means the same thing.  If you post something on your blog, no one knows if anyone read it or if anyone liked it.  I'm guilty of posting something on my blog, waited around for a day or two for some validation and then decided to post the post on Facebook.  So, instead of spending your time creating these cool blog posts with elaborate pictures and anecdotes, please are now posting pithy comments on facebook to get their fix.

Just this weekend a cousin of mine mentioned to me that she reads my blog posts.  I was surprised by this announcement because it is hard to tell when a blog post has been read.  Maybe blogs should be more like facebook so we can get the validation we need to post more stuff about our lives.

Well, that is all I have for today.  I should probably post something more important next time.

"LIKE"

I'm old

I have just now decided that I'm getting old.  I found an shoe horn in the bottom of my closet and used it once and now I used it every Sunday to put my church shoes on.  I've got to be old if I like using a Shoe Horn.  How embarrassing!

Temple Visit

On a drizzly morning in April, Coby and many of his close family went to the temple to support him in receiving his endowments. We had a wonderful session that morning in the Salt Lake City Temple. After exiting the temple, we braved the rain and took a few pictures of Coby outside by the reflecting pool. Below is the short video I took of him while we were there.

Mission Call

The much awaited mission call has finally arrived. Coby has been working on his mission papers since January and finally completed all of the requirements and submitted his papers. We anxiously waited the envelope in the mail to see just what Coby would be doing and where he would be living for the next 2 years of his life.

The envelope finally arrived so we hurried and organized as many family members as we could to come over and watch him open up his mission call. Below is the video of him opening his call.

Coby was called to serve in the Tijuana Mexico Mission. He enters the Provo MTC July 10th 2013 and will be teaching the gospel in the Spanish language. We are very excited for him and we are anxious for him to get started. He has a few months where he can work and earn a little bit of money to help pay for his mission.

Harlem Shake

A few weeks ago my sister posted a video on youtube and named it the "Harlem Shake". I watched the video and saw her kids dancing to a crazy sounding song but didn't quite get what was going on. Later in the week when I was going through some of the videos on YouTube, I found the video and played it again. One of my kids was walking by and watched it too. She told me that she knew what this video was about. It was called the Harlem Shake. We then searched around youtube to fine more Harlem Shake videos. After viewing just a few, I figured out what was going on and then I said, "We are doing one of those videos for FHE!" My kids were skeptical and dismissed it immediately. But, I was ready so when Monday rolled around, I got out the video camera and tripod and told everyone to find something to wear because we were doing a Harlem Shake Video. They were all still skeptical but after I came down into the living room the energy started to build and everyone started to try and find something crazy to wear.

Once we had everything in place, we had to find someone crazy enough to start dancing while everyone else was just sitting there. I opened up the floor to volunteers. No one volunteered. In fact, they all said that I would have to do the dancing since it was my idea. I was ok with that but they would all have to live with the consequences.

Andy found the music and we started the video camera. I didn't know what I was going to do once the music started playing but I knew it had to be big and bold. So, the music started, I started tossing my arms around and ended up punching the air. After that, we stopped the video, put on crazy clothes, turned the music back on, and then went crazy for about 30 seconds.

We took two shots of the second half and then I combined it with the music and uploaded it to YouTube. It was a huge hit will all of our family and friends. Enjoy our "Harlem Shake" Video below.

Sledding

This week a storm his Twin Falls Idaho and dumped a little bit of snow all over the place.  The dumping of the snow wasn't bad but the wind caused the snow to turn into a blizzard.  All of the schools around the area closed so that no one would be hurt while traveling.  So, what do all of the kids do when there is a snow day and they are out of school?  Yep, they run outside and play in the snow.

Unfortunately the snow day did not automatically translate into a day off of work for me.  I still had to work and still had to travel.  I spent most of the day in the office but managed to get a little work done too.

When I got home, Katie begged me to go sledding since she had already tested out the hill.  I wasn't up for sledding that day because I had "worked" all day, but I considered going on Saturday.

Saturday came around so I waited until just before the sun went down so I could hit the warmest part of the day to go sledding.  It still was not warm outside but I bundled up and went over to the small hill by the city pool to get in a few sledding runs before it was too dark.

Below are just a few videos of our experiences.

Coby's off to college

I know this happened a few months ago but I just found the pictures that I took so I'm posting this today.

We took Coby off to college at the end of August.  Coby bought a car from his grandpa at the end of the summer so we loaded up everything we could think of into the Lumina and headed for Logan.  We arrived at his apartment complex and checked in.  We wondered around a little bit trying to find Coby's exact apartment.  The apartment was on the second floor of a large apartment complex at the bottom of the hill close to USU Campus.  When you drop off of the hill, way down below the temple, the area is called "The Island".  Anyway, we found his place and started to unload his car and our Suburban.  After looking through the apartment, we realized that we had packed way to much stuff.  His room was very small.  Not only was it small but he had to share that room with another person.  So, he had to stuff a bunch of his belongings over into a closet close to his bed.  I think the other kids in the family were a little shocked with how little room was.

Below are some pictures of us moving Coby into his new apartment in Logan Utah.

We then took him up to campus and went shopping for some books for his classes.   Yikes, the prices were high so we looked online for a few of them to try and save some bucks.  After making the book purchases we decided to go and buy some food.  We went over to Walmart to stock him up on some food.

After getting back from the grocery store, we took the food into his kitchen and discovered we had bought way too much food.  We had taken up almost all of the room in the kitchen with just Coby's food.  Oops.  Anyway, I guess he could share if there wasn't any more room.

We then said goodbye and headed back to Twin Falls.  Mom and the girls shed a few tears as we left our oldest son in a city several hours away from home.  We knew that things would never be the same, but we also knew it was time for Coby to start his life on his own.

Since then, Coby has worked hard at college.  He had a job that ended just before Thanksgiving and probably won't start up again until March or April.  He has learned what it takes to get good grades in college.  He has learned the importance of studying and how much he needs to use the computer lab.  On one of his computer programming finals he worked and studied and was able to get a 100%.  We hope he continues to learn and grow as he gets closer to leaving to go on a Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Christmas Letter 2012

The dynamics of the Carter Family has changed this year.  We had one of our decedents (Coby) graduate from High School, pack up his things and leave the nest.  We didn't think it would ever happen and we were pretty sure he would not survive on his own.  Amazingly enough, Coby is still alive and has managed to live, on his own, for four whole months.  We are pretty sure he is living on milk, Cup-o-Noodles and toast.  He has spent the last semester at Utah State University and is entering his finals week.  We are anxious to have him home for Christmas to hear about all of his experiences at college.  Coby is planning on starting his mission paperwork so that he will be ready to leave on a mission in early spring 2013.

Andy tried out for the Junior Varsity Basketball team this fall, and made the team.  So, we are traveling around the gem state in hopes of catching a glimpse of him playing on the TFHS JV basketball team.  So far he has played really well for the short periods of time that he has played.  Andy was ordained a Priest this year and is excited to be in the Priest Quorum.   At the end of the last school year, he was fortunate enough to quality to play in the State Tennis Tournament in men’s doubles.  He is really excited for tennis to start but has to wait two more months before tryouts and practice begins.

Savanna has been serving as the Beehive President in our ward.  She completed her Young Women Recognition award this year which is a MAJOR accomplishment for a little Beehive.  Savanna continues playing the piano and clogging.  She worked very hard this year to make the highest team in her dance studio called Pride Elite.  The Elite team is made of girls from a senior in high school all the way down to 8^th grade.  She is very lucky to make such a special team at her age.  Some of her clogging dances can be found on YouTube.

Katie has decided to play basketball again this year.  She wasn't on the same team as last year but still had a winning season.  Katie has also decided to start clogging again.  She tried out for a clogging team called Thunder and made the team.  She hasn't been clogging for 5 years but picked it back up very quickly.  She had her first performance this month and did very well.  You can also see her clogging performance on YouTube.

Clint has made a career change of sorts this year.  He has enjoyed being a computer technician but was wanting something more.  He talked with his employer to see what other opportunities were available.  After some deliberation and investigation he has moved from being a computer tech to sales.  He is now referred to as “Technology Specialist” on the sales team at Integrated Technologies.  So, if you need any computer equipment, any toner, a printer or copier, please call Clint and buy from him.  His livelihood now depends on what he can sell.  So far it has been a good move for Clint and the future looks bright.  Clint continues to serve as the Elders Quorum President in our ward which keeps him busy and involved.  He enjoys the opportunity to serve people and create fun activities for the Elders in the Quorum.  Clint has decided to volunteer as an assistant tennis coach for the Twin Falls High School JV Tennis Team.  Tryouts and practice begins at the end of February.

Deanna has been studying her brains out this year.  She continues to work on her Master’s program so that she can say that she is definitely smarter than anyone else in the family.  We already know she is smarter but she wants a diploma to prove it.  She has about 1 year left before she earns her Master’s Degree.  Deanna continues to teach at Sawtooth Elementary as a Kindergarten teacher and also serves as a Laurel Adviser in our ward.  She loves working with the Young Women and the Young Women leaders.  They rally around her and sit close so they can participate in the fun witty humor that Deanna brings to the activities.  This summer at girls camp, Deanna’s little tent was filled with Young Women Leaders as they stayed up late into the night bouncing funny stories and sarcasm off of the paper thin tent walls.

Finally, my daughters insist that I mention one other thing.  At the beginning of last year we found a little dog lost in the streets early in the morning.  We took him into our home with the hopes that we would find his owner.  We did not find the owner so we added another dog to our family.  This fall, little Simba died as a result of a hole in the fence and a bigger dog’s rage, so we had a small funeral service for this little adopted dog.  We miss little Simba in our lives.

We love you all and we pray for your health and safety. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Clint, Deanna, Coby, Andy, Savanna, Katie

SIMBA, Rest in peace.

Many of you may already know but last month our little dog Simba passed away.  If you don't know how Simba came to be a part of our family, you can go to my blog post earlier this year by clicking here

So, Simba has been with us since February 2012. He was welcomed with open arms from all of the kids.  Simba has been a loving pet to all of us except for Jack.  I think he tolerated Jack for the most part but when there was a battle for attention or food, Simba, the smaller dog, would always win.  Simba liked marking his territory so much that I gave him the affectionate name of Weedler.  I called him Weedles, Weedler, Weedy, and Weeds.  Simba didn't care, he loved the attention.

Simba would be the first dog to the door when someone came home.  He would jump up on the couch or chair to sit by you while you watched TV, played on the computer, or just sat reading.  He didn't care what you were doing, he just wanted to be sitting by someone.  One of the fun traits that Weedler had was that when we talked to him, he would tilt his head from side to side as if he was trying to figure out what you were saying.  It was very cute.

Weedles met his demise by trying to find love.  There was a girl dog around the corner from our house and Weedles felt the need to respond to the call of the wild.  He snuck through 3 tight fences to find this girl dog. Once we found Simba missing, we all went hunting for him.  We searched until it was too dark to see in hopes that he would just come home of his own accord.  The next morning we received a call from our neighbor that Simba had passed away.  The girl dog he was trying to court was a Great Dane.  Needless to say, she was not in the mood and he received the brunt of the attack.

That night, we dug a hole in our backyard and gave a short funeral for our little dog.  Each of us talked about what they will miss missed about Simba.  All of us cried as we lowered his little body into the ground.  We will miss little Simba.  I hope we get a chance to see him again in the next life.

On TV

I was on TV this morning at 7:00am. I know, there arn't that many people watching that early on a Monday morning, however, they posted our show on the internet so now I can rebroadcast the program to all my friends and family.

I am a member of PLaNT which stands for Professional Leadership and Networking of Twin Falls which meets every Tuesday to talk about our businesses and promote leads for sales. I am the IT guy for this group and I represent Integrated Technologies (which is the new name of the company I work for).

I was a little nervous at first but was able to be calm for the live shoot. It was a little shocking how quickly the program started and how fast the time flew once the cameras were rolling.

Family Pictures

Before Coby left we decided to take some pictures of our family. Below is a small video of all of the pictures that I thought were great. Some of the pictures were cut off a little bit by my video editor. I'll have to fix that later. At least you will be able to see a lot of our shots.

Olympic Medals

The Olympics are in full swing this week so I guess I had better post some interesting new thing about it. This time, I'm posting about something that I am finally fed up with. Ok, fed up is a little strong. Maybe I'm more annoyed than fed-up. Ok, no, fed up works fine. Michael Phelps, that is my irritant. Michael Phelps Greatest Olympian, Michael Phelps most decorated olympian, Michael Phelps most metals of all time, Michael Phelps wins another gold medal. AARRRGGGHHHH Stop with the Michael Phelps stuff and stop giving him medals. Why does he have so many medals? Well, it is because there are so many swimming events. If there were 300 fencing events, maybe one of the fencing olympians would have a bunch of gold medals. Here is a good example. Lets say there is a really good runner. Lets say he can run the 100 yard dash really well and can beat everyone in his field. So, lets compare that with the swimming. Swimming has 100m free style, 100m back stroke, 100m butterfly, 100m breast stroke. There are four events right there. So, we should have 4 events in the 100 yard dash! 100 yard dash, 100 yard backwards, 100 yard skipping, and 100 yard sideways run. Plus, in the swimming they have the relays. Backstroke relay, freestyle relay, butterfly relay, breast stroke relay. We should add all of these relays to running as well. You get the picture. So, I think the swimming people have way too many events in their category where they can win medals. Poor "shot put" people only get one chance. What if they had the shot put throw, shot put roll, shot put shuffle, shot put flip, shot put relay? Many more shot putters would be getting medals and would then be able to compete with Michael Phelps' record of the most Olympic medals. Maybe it is just that I don't like swimming. For me, it isn't fun to swim. For me, you are just a few kicks and arm digs away from drowning. That's no way to have fun with the fear of drowning on your mind all of the time. Wow, I went way off the deep end on that one. No pun intended. Ok, maybe a little pun intended.

Parents Reactions

I don't know if our children know or not but us parents go through a lot of emotions while we are watching our kids play sports. I've always wandered how goofy I looked sometimes while watching Andy, Coby, Savanna or Katie perform. Well, I finally have a mirror to look at. While I was watching the olympics last week, the spotlight turned from the gymnast Alexandra Raisman to her parents. They replayed Alexandra's whole uneven bars performance but only showed her parents in the stands. I loved their reaction and finally found the footage on YouTube. This is probably how I look when watching my kids at their performances.

Prank

When I was growing up, each of the kids was involved with scout camp and girls camp. For the boys it was always Camp Bradley. For the girls it as always Alturas Lake. We would pack our bags and prepare for camp a day before leaving for camp. For some reason, the Girls camp was much more easy going and playful than the boys camp. I remember several times seeing my Mom sitting in the middle of the living room floor with the pajamas of my sisters. I remember asking her what she was doing. Well, she was sewing up the bottoms of their pajamas. This was a little prank that my mom would pull on her daughters just to let them know that she was thinking about them while up at camp. Now, in the modern era of political correctness, this playful prank isn't so well received. I would imagine that pranks are no longer encouraged and small notes of encouragement are now the norm. Well, I'm not going to follow the norm, I'm going to follow tradition. So tonight, I'll be heading over to where Savanna has dropped off her camp gear to sew up her pajama bottoms. I hope that when she goes to bed that first night and as a hard time getting into her pajamas, she will think of her geeky Dad and smile.

One Ping Only

I have a few little sayings that I like to quote.  I don't use them all of the time but they come in handy every once in a while.  One of these little phrases is, "One Ping Only".  Many of you may not know what movie that is from.  It is from "The Hunt for Red October".  It is a very important part of the movie that makes or breaks the fate of a submarine crew.  I decided to try and track it down for those of you that have heard me use the phrase.  Enjoy.

Mints

When I was younger, quite a bit younger, our parents would leave all of us kids at home to go to a wedding reception. Although we were not happy that we were left at home and didn't get to see the cool stuff that went on at wedding receptions, we did have one reason to be excited. Usually our parents would leave the house stating that they would bring us home something special. We all new what that ment too. It ment that Mom and Dad would bring us home some mints. Sure enough, if we were still awake, Mom or Dad would pull out a small napkin filled with little green and pink mints. Sometimes even some nuts. Well, it was my turn to carry on the tradition. When we were at a reception for Brian Stevensen tonight, I decided to gather a small pile so mints onto a small plate to bring home for the kids.

Below is my small stash of reception mints I brought home for the kids.