HELLO, my name is...

National Anthem: Part 3

2009-06-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

I went to the final audition last night, and sang the whole (1st verse, really) "Star Spangled Banner" this time. There were 15 finalists, and some really strong competition. I, however, was not chosen as the "Idol" winner. I know, I know - write to your Congressman - it's out of my hands now. It would have been fun to win, but I still get free tickets to the event for being a finalist, so that's pretty cool. AND, I'm now free to do whatever I want that day, so bonus.

National Anthem: Part 2

2009-06-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

OK, so I went to the audition this past Saturday over in Tempe. Due to a somewhat late start and the fact that I was dragging all 4 of my kids with me, I arrived a little late - they had already signed everyone in and started the auditions. They still let me do mine, though. Ends up, there were only 24 total applicants, and I got #24. I think when we walked into the theater, they were on #18 already, so I didn't have long to wait - literally, we were in the theater for a total of 10 minutes! I felt like I kind of bombed the audition, though. See, each auditioner only got 30 seconds to strut their stuff (seriously, with a buzzing timer and everything), and supposedly you could sing ANY 30 second part of the song that you wished. When we arrived, I got to hear a few people go before me, and they all sang the same part of the Anthem - the ending ("...and the rocket's red glare, etc...). I had a starting note for the beginning of the song, but did not come prepared with a starting note for the big finale, so I was a little worried about that. I'm not sure if the group was actually instructed to only sing that portion of the song, or if all those people just chose to do the same part b/c that's where, supposedly, you voice can really shine, but I was a little nervous about starting cold at that point in the song. In hindsight, I should have just asked them when I got up there, but I decided to just go for it - and I started too low! I was able to carry it through, but I could immediately tell that this was not going to WOW anyone. The kids did great, though, and everyone was in love with the twins - partly b/c I had dressed them in their "Thing 1" and Thing 2" t-shirts, and partly b/c they're just so dang cute! At any rate, I got an email yesterday that I have been chosen as a TOP TEN FINALIST and will get to perform a 2nd audition - this time the whole song - next Wednesday, the 24th!! I feel confident that, given the entire song to work with, I can really show them what I've got. So, depending on how next week goes, we may, or may not, have new plans for July 4th. Will keep you posted.

National Anthem

2009-06-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

OK, so I just registered to audition for the opportunity to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" at the City of Tempe July 4th Fireworks Festival. 1st round of auditions are this Saturday morning in Tempe. It's a little scary, as I'm doing this solo (not with the MC6 guys), primarily b/c half the group will be out of town on the 4th, and so it would be silly to involve them at this point. Plus, since I sing the lead on our arrangement anyway, I thought what the heck! I'll probably have to change the way I sing it somewhat, but I figure I can just belt it like normal. My audition is only for 30 seconds, and I can choose any 30-second portion of the song when it comes my turn. Any ideas as to whether I should do anything other than just start from the beginning?

Update:
I was just informed that there will only be 25 other people auditioning with me on Saturday morning, so I'm relieved. If there were going to be 800, like when we auditioned for the Phoenix Suns, then I was considering just not going down there at all, due to the hassle, and the fact that I'll have all 4 of my kids with me. But 25 - I can handle that. And, it gives me that much of a better chance to make it to the 2nd round of auditions in 2 weeks.

Slow Gun Runner

2009-04-23T15:39:00.001-07:00

One of my best friends from childhood, David Pichard (shout out!), is in a band called Slow Gun Runner, based out of Juneau, Alaska. This video was made by their drummer, Chris Lambertson, in conjunction with independent filmmaker, Jarrett Thomas, and features their recently recorded song, "Pretty". Hope you like it!

MC6 - Christmas album

2008-11-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

My singing group, MC6, is getting ready to release our 1st CD here in a couple of weeks. We have been working on this album for the past several months, spending many long nights in the studio either recording or mixing tracks. Currently, the album is at the mastering studio, then it goes to replication. We should have CDs in hand for sale by Thanksgiving, so we're very excited!

It is an album of Christmas tunes done in a cappella style - no instruments but our voices. Some tracks are classic, traditional holiday tunes, such as Away In a Manger, Sleigh Ride, and White Christmas; while others will be new to you, such as Candlesong and He Is Born. We actually have two versions of Away In a Manger on the CD - one is the traditional version you have heard before, while the other will knock your socks off!

These will be available for sale very soon. If you'd like a copy, let me know (through email or via Blogger), and we'll be sure to rush one out to you in time for the holidays.

For more information, see MC6's web site at www.mc6music.com.

Halloween

2008-11-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of the kiddos from Halloween. The twins were hilarious as they flatly refused to wear their "ghost" costumes, which were nothing more than a sheet with a hole cut in the top for their head. Simply did not want to do it, and that was that.

We did, however, have a practice run for Halloween the night before at our ward's Trunk-or-Treat party. The boys were adamant as ever that they were not going to wear those costumes, but once I got them into them and off to beg for candy they began to warm to the idea. After about 3-4 cars, they finally caught on, and the costumes were an afterthought! Logan looked at me as if to say, "Wow, you just go up to people and ask for candy, and they give it to you and tell you how cute you are?" What a concept!

On Halloween night, they, again, did not want to play dress-up, but once we forced them into their sheets and got them to approach a couple of houses, they were fine. Slow, but fine. Collin eventually got fed up with waiting for us (the twins, really) all night, so he took off with one of his friends and her dad to hit a different street super-speed style. Kate wouldn't go up to any house that had any kind of noise-making prop, which was just about every other house, so I spent a lot of time cajoling her into sneaking past the ghouls before they could get her.

Collin & Kate with our kickin' pumpkin!

Here are Kate, Collin, and Jelena (neighbor kid):

Kate looking super-spooky in her witch costume. Without her hat, though, people thought she was a "dead girl". Still spooky.

Seth the friendly ghost.

The brood. Kate is looking pretty scary!

Crackberry

2008-08-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

In the course of my busy workday, as I slave for the supreme master who provides me (and vicariously, my wife) with the monies which I trade for various and sundry goods and services that are essential to life (such as food...and TiVo), I sometimes take a short break from my labors in order to stretch my legs and perhaps find a snack and/or use the restroom. This is not an unusual activity for me - in fact, I repeat this activity several times throughout my day. It gives me a break from the tedium of my daily tasks as well as provides me with opportunities for some stress relief of a social, culinary, or even critically biological in nature. One of the nice things about these breaks is the ability to leave my work (solitaire) behind for just a few minutes, there to await my eventual return.

Just a few minutes ago, whilst on one of my "bio" breaks (not to be confused with snack or social breaks), I encountered a most unusual, yet strangely not completely surprising phenomena. As I took my place at the bank of urinals, I could not help but notice the fellow right next to me was doing some serious multi-tasking. While with the one hand he was, shall we say, "doing his business", the other was feverishly working the buttons of his Blackberry. Needless to say, his gaze was focused entirely on said Blackberry and not on the "business" he was doing. Apparently, this bathroom is for conducting more than one (or two) kinds of business.

I tried not to stare, as is rude in most situations, even more so (not to mention somewhat awkward) in the men's restroom, but this guy was, shall I say "handily" completing both tasks at once without even the subtlest appearance of awkwardness or uncertainty. He had definitely done this before - was perhaps even a seasoned pro. Is this an Olympic sport this year? If not, it should be! Takes all kinds of ambidexterity and coordination and stuff. I'm pretty sure I couldn't pull it off, and, although certainly not of Olympic caliber, I do consider myself to be somewhat athletic and coordinated. Really, this is much more than the old "pat your head and rub circles on your tummy" routine. This goes way beyond the "chewing gum whilst walking" bit. This is even bigger than throwing left-handed. Yes indeed , these are unique skills, developed over a long period of time of intense and repeated practice. I'm pretty sure this guy doesn't just do this trick at work to show off to us lesser mortals. Nay, he must have a strict training regimen after work hours, perhaps even early in the morning before work. I'll even bet that, when he awakes in the middle of the night, he takes his Blackberry into the home bathroom for an impromptu training session. I wonder how many words/minute he can type on that thing? Didn't some teenage girl from Ohio recently win a competition for the most words/minute texting? Of course, she could use both hands - not even a contest. I wonder how many words/minute I can type on mine? Should I try now? Right here, right now? Will he think me a silly amateur and scoff at my bumbling efforts to emulate?

All of this is going through my mind as I'm trying to take care of my own "business". A thought occurs to me - "Have I done what I came in here to do?" I think so. I got more than I bargained for, really. My colleague has not noticed me staring, which is a good thing. His attention is focused elsewhere. I'm to his left, and, thankfully, he's looking to his right at the Blackberry. I realize I've been trying to read his email. Looks business related. That's a good thing - it is a company issued device, you know.

I turn away and move over to the sink to wash up. He's still furiously working that thumb. Is he still "going"?! Man, that's some bladder! Or maybe he just needs to finish this train of thought before he can step away. Either way, he's still at it as I walk out the door. Who knows how long he was there before I showed up? Maybe he does his best work this way? I don't think I know him, but have I ever received an email from him? Perhaps one typed in just this way? I may never know the answers to these questions, but I do know it's time for me to get back to my desk and to the mounds of work (solitaire) that await me.

(Found this on a site called www.someecards.com - check it out.)

Independence Day

2008-07-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

We had a fun July 4th this year. Rather than stick around the Phoenix area to roast and to sweat in the desert sun, we decided to head north. Now, when we finally left the house, at 12:30pm, the thermometer on the back patio read 112 degrees - in the shade, no less.

We drove 2 hours North-East, past Payson, up onto the Mogollon Rim. Thought we'd do some light hiking, soak up the cool mountain air, and then catch the fireworks in Payson before running home. When we got to the Rim, we could not believe the amazingly cool temps - probably mid-60s or so and wet. We got rained on several times off and on while we were up there. The hike didn't go so well as there was not a very good trail for the stroller, but we did find a great spot along the Rim View trail to see the sights.

After our hike, we went down to Payson, to the Layton's cabin (Melanie's Aunt & Uncle) for a BBQ, then to the fireworks show at the park in Payson. It was one of the best shows I've seen. It was set up around a small pond in the middle of the park, and the fireworks were literally exploding directly over our heads. Loud and brilliant, and loads of fun, even though it was drizzling the whole time.

Here are some pictures we took:

Fathers Day

2008-06-16T16:16:00.001-07:00

As yesterday was Fathers Day, I thought I ought to post some of my thoughts and feelings regarding the wonderous day that is all about DAD.

I actually had a very nice day yesterday, except for the fact that I had to get up at 6am to get ready for 8am church. Now that I think about it, though, I believe Melanie allowed me to sleep in until about 6:30 - ostensibly b/c it was Fathers day - but I'm sure it just took me that long to face the eventuality of having to get up and out of bed in time to avoid her ire. However, one cool Dad's Day gift I received was that the twins decided to stay in Nursery at church for the whole time! Yep, they did not cry their way out even once, and that is a moment I will cherish forever. Me thinks they are finally catching on to the fact that a class full of fun songs, tasty snacks, crayons, toys, and generally being loud and crazy is preferable to constantly being shushed by Dad and having to sit "still" through Sunday School and Priesthood classes. They're young yet, but they're catching on.

Mel and the kids splurged and gave me a new iPod for Fathers Day. It's the 80 GB iPod Classic, and it's silver. Very cool toy. I have had a 20 GB iPod Classic for the past 3 years, but it finally zonked out on me a few weeks ago. Some folks can't understand why any one individual would possibly need 80 gigabytes of storage on an iPod, and I agree to an extent (that's why I did not request the 160 GB model), but to tell the truth, I have about 45 GB of music files in my iTunes library, and having to choose which 20 GB I was going to put on my old iPod was very frustrating. The iPod Nano's are so very small and cute, but only 8 GB of space would have driven me mad in very short order. This way I can just put it all on there and not have to worry about it. How so very convenient for me. Collin already asked me if he can have my old one.

So, after church and a nice Fathers Day lunch (brunch was it?), I lay down for a short nap. 4 hours later, I came to and immediately declared that it had been the best Fathers Day ever! Wow, I'm not sure if I even got 4 contiguous hours of sleep during any night last week, so this was a real treat. At one point during my nap, Seth, one of my 20-month-old twins, came into the room, climbed up on the bed, and lay down next to me, softly speaking to me in his cute gibberish and patting my head. Then he abruptly left and I continued in my peaceful slumber. Then, around 2pm, I awoke and thought that maybe I ought to get up and go to choir practice at 2:30, so I lay back down "for just a couple of minutes", and then did not wake up until 4:30. Life is rough sometimes, but you just have to roll with it.

We went to Mel's Aunt Mareen's house for a big family dinner last night. The whole Arizona crew was there, which amounts to about 30 people, counting kids, and there was even a cake, which I initially mistook for a Happy Fathers Day cake, but was really a birthday cake for Melanie's brother, Daniel. Since we already had a Smith family b-day party (with cake) for him last Tuesday, I went ahead and pretended that this was a Fathers Day cake and had 2 pieces.

Needless to say, Mel and the kiddos treated me to a nice, relaxing day, and it certainly did make me feel special, so thank you, guys.

Got to speak with my Dad last night. He turned 70 this year, but doesn't look a day over 60. He and my step-mom, Nan, came out here to celebrate in February, and we had a grand old time.

My brother, Scott, surprised him by showing up unannounced (only I knew he was coming) - that was fun. The last thing Dad wanted was for anyone to make a big deal out of his turning 70, and that's why he came all the way out to Arizona - to escape the certain dread of some sort of big party with black balloons, unexpected attendees, and likely a roast. We spared him the roast and the black balloons, but we still got the surprise visitor in. Mel made a cake...

Come to think of it, maybe she didn't actually make the cake, but she did cut it.

Here's Dad blowing out the candles...

Anyway, I freely admit that I'm a bit biased, but Fathers Day is cool, and Melanie and the kiddos helped to make it really great this year. Sure wish I could have spent it with my Dad, too. Well, here's to next year!

Recap: Music & Arts Festival

2008-06-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Went to the 1st annual Mesa Family Music & Arts Festival this past weekend. Had a lot of fun, even though the crowd was quite small. Mel and I decided to take our two biggest kids along, but we left the twins at home, for what I believe to be obvious reasons. We went to the afternoon concert which featured Jordan Bluth, Eclipse, and Peter Breinholt.

I had never before heard of Jordan Bluth, but he has a very nice voice, although his choice of material doesn't really suit my fancy. It was mostly show tunes, although he did impress me with a beautiful Italian operatic piece from...well, I don't remember. Overall, his voice was quite good, but he didn't really impress me until he hit that one piece, and then he proceeded to lose me again when he returned to the show tunes.

Eclipse was awesome! I have listened to their stuff a lot over the past 3-4 years as my group, MC6, has worked to emulate their sound somewhat, but this was my first time seeing them live, and they blew me away. Very energetic sound and stage presence. MC6 could really take some lessons from those guys, although I can think of for sure 2 if not 3 of our guys, right off the top of my head, that I would not want to see try some of the dancing that Eclipse was doing on stage! They have a very tight sound and really keep the audience on its toes throughout their performance. I was impressed before with their recordings, but now they've really got me.

Peter Breinholt was great as usual. He did not travel with his band, The Big Parade, this time, but instead enlisted a few members of Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband to play with him. He's such a down-to-earth guy and a fantastic performer. Melanie got to speak with him after the show, and told him all about how his 1995 De Jong show was our first date, and he was so excited b/c apparently those early Utah campus shows are what propelled his career to what it is today. He even gave us a free copy of his new CD just for being loyal fans over the years. Cool guy, that Peter Breinholt.

Unfortunately for all involved, the turnout for the festival was anemic at best. For the Eclipse/Peter Breinholt show Melanie counted about 100 people in attendance. I heard the morning and evening shows were about the same. Pretty sad, really, b/c these were good shows. The organizers simply did not promote it very well. I hope they work to bring it back next year, though. It's a great idea and realistically could be very well-attended and self-sustaining in the future, but people need to hear about it for it to be successful. I only knew about it b/c I was performing at it.

So, my group, MC6, performed as well. Mel's cousin, Kelly, has given a ringing endorsement of our show, albeit a bit slanted toward my own part in the show. (Thank you, Kelly. Really, it's very flattering!) We had about as many in attendance as the paid show we went to earlier in the day (ours was free, yes free, as we do not yet rate with the sing-for-hire crowd.) We had a lot of fun, and the audience was great. A number of people I invited actually came as well, so that was cool. We sang a couple of new songs. Peanut Butter & Jelly (thank you Inside Out) and The Lion Sleeps (thanks, N'Sync). Both came off pretty well, so we'll likely keep them in the repertoir.

All-in-all, it was a fun day. I'm sad that more people didn't come out to enjoy the sights and sounds and to rub elbows with their favorite LDS recording artists (they were all very accessible after their shows for meet and greet sessions - very cool gesture), and to support such a great family entertainment opportunity. As I said before, I hope they work to bring it back next year, not only for my own selfish reasons, as I'd like to perform there again, but also for the other performers and for the quality entertainment that it brings to the area.

Mesa Family Music & Arts Festival - May 31st

2008-05-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

My "band", MC6, will be performing at the upcoming Mesa Family Music & Arts Festival, to be held on May 31st at the Mesa Convention Center.

We will be performing on the free Local stage at 6:15pm, and we'll be singing about 8-9 songs that showcase our stylistic versatility and cool sound. From do-wop to spiritual to silly, we cover the spectrum.

There are also a number of pro to semi-pro groups that will be performing on the not-free main stage, and a couple that I would recommend are Peter Breinholt and Eclipse. They actually will be performing together in the same 3:30pm session, so you can catch them both for the price of just 1 ticket.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.musicandartsfestival.com. This should be a very fun and enjoyable event to kick off the summer, so come check us out.

Seattle Blues

2008-05-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

OK, I admit that "Seattle Blues" is not nearly as catchy (nor alliterative) as "Biloxi Blues", but the fact is I haven't been to Biloxi in years, and the lovely city of Seattle is where I am currently situated, albeit only for this week. And, I didn't feel like coming up with a better title, so....

I have not written on this blog in a couple of months (OK, 3 months, but who's counting, right? OK, Anne is counting.) Seems like whenever I travel for work I tend to have some "free" time on my hands for blogging. I am nearing the end of my 3rd straight day of mind-numbing meetings, and so my now-numb mind begins to wander. And so I blog.

This is my first foray into the Pacific Northwest, and it's quite lovely, albeit much colder and wetter than I anticipated. I mean, it's the middle of May, for crying out loud! Isn't it shorts and sandals weather everywhere by now?! Not so in Seattle, my friend. Cool and rainy. It's actually not so bad, though, as I don't get this kind of weather very often in Arizona. And I'm sure my super-thin Arizona blood is a major contributor to my constant chill here. Well, it certainly doesn't help!

Two nights ago, I went out with a few of my colleagues from the conference to check out the main drag over by the University of Washington, which is just 2 blocks away from our hotel. Basically, when I say "main drag", I'm talking about where all the students go to hang out and let off steam. Just imagine the "Tennesse Waltz" in flannel. If you don't know what the Tennessee Waltz is, just ask your friendly neighborhood FSU alum.

Anyway, I was surprised to see so many pan-handlers along the sidewalks. I mean, these were students, but they were asking for spare change, as if they were indigent. One "dude" asked me, "Hey, man, got any spare change for...I don't know...somethin'?" He didn't get jack from me. I thought to myself, "Next time, that guy had better have a plan ready, or at least a workable business model and ROI calcs." He accosted me again on my way back up the street a couple of hours later, and sadly had not changed his pitch much. I'm thinking that if you're begging for change and your approach hasn't netted much over 2 hours, it might be wise to alter your delivery. Just my opinion.

Speaking of UW students, is flannel back in now, or did it never go out of style in Seattle? I mean, I remember joining in with the flannel/"grunge" (see http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Grunge-(for-Guys-and-Girls) culture in my early years of college in the early 90's (yes, I'm that old), but, gosh, that was over by the time I got home from my mission in 1995. I mean, once Kurt Cobain died, what was there left to go un-bathed for anymore? Pearl Jam? Not likely. At any rate, lots of flannel around here. And Mexican ponchos. And bikes. And purple hair. And piercings. Ah, college life! I had to hit the local Safeway grocery store my 1st day here, and the kid behind me put the following itms on the conveyor: a 6-pack of beer, a bag of frozen burritos, a jar of salsa, a 10-pack of Ramen, and a package of frozen blueberry waffles. Dorm food. Man, sometimes it's great to be a grown-up!

I'm essentially done with my portion of the conference tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 11am, but my flight home is not until Friday, so I'm going to take the afternoon tomorrow to go and see my long-lost Uncle Jim Mimms. He lives on one of the neighboring islands that make up Puget Sound, and I get to take the ferry for 1/2 the trip. Should be fun and adventurous.

Cookie Monsters

2008-02-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

The other day, Melanie got all excited about using her new Bosch mixer, and she decided to make us some chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't think of any reason why she ought NOT to make said cookies, so I went along with it. Good call, Mel!

Logan enjoyed his cookies both inside and outside of his mouth! He's got a bit of that "Austin Powers/bad English teeth" look going on here.

Seth was equally thrilled.

Sure, Mom, I'll have another! Wait, perhaps I shouldn't. Well, OK. If you insist!

Kate gets a little wild-eyed when she eats sweets. Seth is posing.

Hyper? What's that?

All-in-all, cookies were a good idea, however, we did have a hard time getting everyone to go to bed that night, and I think I only got 1 cookie out of the whole batch! I'll have to have Melanie work the camera next time.

Twins

2008-01-30T14:35:00.001-08:00

Picture of my twin boys and their twin cousins. L-R are Lane, Logan, Lucy, & Seth. It's possible I have mixed up Lucy & Lane, as they are identical and thus very hard to distinguish. The 2 sets of twins are exactly 2 months apart in age. In this pic, the boys are 15 months old, and the girls are 13 months. Lucy & Lane were visiting us from Utah for the holidays. Pretty amazing, actually, that I was able to capture them all looking in the same direction, even if it wasn't in the direction of the camera!

Dude, Where's My Car?

2007-12-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

I'm guessing this guy is about to be late for work. Personally, I would change plans and telecommute for the day. Now, I have lived in the northern climes in times past, and so I know how it is to come out in the morning and have to 1. find your car amongst the multitude of white, fluffy lumps in the parking lot, and 2. scrape it off and de-ice it before you can go anywhere. That's why I moved to Arizona. An interesting question that I would like to pose to this fellow is why in the world does he own a white car in such a locale?! It's hard enough to identify on its own, even more so when covered with snow and ice.

Nowadays, there exists such technology that you can start your car and turn on the heater and defroster before you even leave the house. Just push a button on your key "clicker", and, presuming your battery and starter are in good condition, you can emerge from your lair a few minutes later to a warm, de-iced, and idling automobile.

In college, I had a roommate who was from South Dakota, and because of the super-frigid wintertime temperatures in that state, he even had a "block warmer" on his car. Basically, there is a standard electrical plug flopping out the front of your car, and you plug this into a standard outlet overnight to keep your engine block from freezing. Apparently, should the block be frozen when you try to start it, it could potentially crack, causing you to be late to work - for a week or so, until you have the engine replaced. I'm guessing that if the auto-start technology were available to him back then, he would have indulged. Certainly preferable to the electrical plug dangling in an unsightly manner out from under the hood of the car, causing people to stare and whisper, and leading to uncomfortable explanations and justifications all the time. I can't tell you how many times I heard him field questions like, "What is that...THING...hanging out of your car?", or "Dude, your thing is hanging out!" , or "Is your car electric?" Ah, yes. Saving the world one car at a time. The state motto of South Dakota.

So, if you happen to live in the Great White North and suffer from these same afflictions, I urge you to fly south for the winter. It's beautiful down here, and the golf is spectacular this time of year. Just be sure to go home before summer hits. It's a dry heat.

So embarrassing!

2007-12-14T10:49:00.001-08:00

As on Seinfeld, "I had an itch!!"

Nice parking job

2007-12-14T10:20:00.001-08:00

no further comment needed

Christmas get-to-know-ya

2007-12-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do: Just copy this entire blog entry and paste it into a new post on your blog. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. So, here goes...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Bags are definitely easier, but they're also a little too easy for those "curious" sorts, so it depends on who it's for. I'm a terrible, messy wrapper. My sister makes the most awesome looking wrapped gifts, but you almost need dynamite to get them open for all the tape!

2. Real tree or artificial? Fake. As a kid we used to actually go out into the woods and cut down a real tree (envision "Christmas Vacation" scene 1 here), then we just started buying real ones. Now it's just an artificial one.

3. When do you put up the tree? Day after Thanksgiving, or thereabouts.

4. When do you take the tree down? Why would I take it down?

5. Do you like eggnog? Absolutely, but it must be homemade - not the nasty grocery store stuff. I make it myself, and it's to die for.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? You know, I never did get any of the things I asked for!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, we have lots. My wife is enamored with the things, so they're all over our house. Big ones, small ones, porcelain ones, wood ones, etc...

8. Hardest person to buy for? My step-dad. And he lives in a small town, so I have to make sure it's good b/c he might not be able to return it if it doesn't work out.

9. Easiest person to buy for? the kiddos

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I have received my share of heinous Christmas sweaters over the years.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? snail mail, for sure.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I love "Christmas Vacation" ("Clark, that there's an RV!"). An old family favorite is "Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas".

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Dec 20th

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Sure, didn't you like it?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Any and all Christmas foods, snacks, treats, etc... except fruit cake. Did you know there are only 10 of those in the whole world - they just keep getting passed around (see #14 above). Once one gets thrown out, a new one is made to replace it. Currently, the "youngest" one is 37 years old.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear. Same for the house. Very. Straight. Lines.

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night. The Christmas Song. the First Noel. there are so many!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We used to always travel, but we've been at home now for the past few years. With 4 kids, it's likely we'll never travel at Christmas again.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Blitzen, Comet, Vixen, Rudolph, etc...

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? This year, a star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Usually 1 on Christmas Eve, the rest on Christmas Day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The fact that the Salvation Army panhandlers don't bother dressing up as Santa anymore.

23. What I love most about Christmas? Family, food, fun. People also tend to be nicer to each other, too, so that's a plus.

WISHING YOU ALL A WONDERFUL & JOYOUS CHRISTMAS!!!! Hope to read your "list" soon!!!

Festival of Trees

2007-11-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

Along with my "band", MC6, we had our first show of this year's holiday season at the Festival of Trees fund raiser at the Banner Gateway Hospital in Mesa. The crowd was, well, sparse (see below)

so we decided to use this as an opportunity for a dress rehearsal. If you'd like to see a clip of the show, please check it out at the MC6 blog at http://mc6acappella.blogspot.com/. On the clip I sing a lovely rendition of Eclipse's "This Year".

Little Elves

2007-11-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to my little munchkins' dance. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9549730449

This is pretty fun. Try it yourself! http://www.elfyourself.com/

FHE smackdown

2007-11-14T14:57:00.001-08:00

When I was in Prague a couple of weeks ago, I received an email from my son that said the following:

I received this on Thursday. I was 1/2 a world away, as the REM song goes.

Ends up it was a pretty minor mishap involving too much dancing and "twirling" during FHE and a resultant head-smacking against the coffee table.

Apparently, there was some blood and some crying; but a little TLC and a head bandage from Melanie that would have made a WWI field medic proud, and Kate was all smiles in no time.

I never did hear how the FHE went after the incident, but I imagine Kate was begging for dessert and fighting with Collin over who would get the yellow ice cream bowl in short order.

She seemed fine when I got home 4 days later. Crazy as ever.

TAG! I'm it!

2007-11-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

I was "tagged" by 2 people, my sister-in-law Erin (http://eringsmith.blogspot.com/) and my wife's cousin, Kelly (http://diversifiedbeeson.blogspot.com/). After the first one, I thought maybe I could skate by and not actually have to pass on the chain-type letter, but once I got tagged a second time, I figured there were people out there that really want to see my answers, so here goes.

The rules:
1-Link to your tagger (like I did with Erin & Kelly), and also post these rules on your blog
2-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
3-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs
4- Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog

So, 7 weird, yet interesting things about myself...

1. I always have wanted to be a pilot. It started out in jr. high - I wanted to be a Navy pilot, flying fighter jets off of aircraft carriers. I actually was not far away from attending the US Naval Academy (I had 2 congressional nominations), but my eyesight had already begun to fail me, and pilot training was then no longer an option, so I went to BYU and studied Finance and pre-med. I never did go to med school either. Nor do I work in Finance anymore. Funny how life throws curve balls at you sometimes. BTW - I still want to learn to fly. I see those fighter jets from Williams field flying over my house all the time, and I can't help but grow wistful at what cool jobs those guys have.
2. I'm somewhat anal about the family checkbook (see Finance degree mentioned above). I reconcile that dang thing at least once a week. I have to write down EVERYTHING that affects that account, and then enter it all into Quicken, which I never actually do analyze for relevant trends, etc... Melanie, on the other hand, could go YEARS without writing down any expenses, wads of receipts slowly taking over her purse. I figure there's got to be a happy medium, but I haven't found it yet.
3. I LOVE music. All kinds of music. Except for Top 40 Pop (Britney Spears, Beyonce, anything American Idol-esque), gangsta rap, and speed metal. I have over 45G of mp3s on my computer, and only a 20G iPod. You can imagine my frustration.
4. I was on my high school varsity basketball team. I never played, except in blow-out wins (or losses), but I was there, and I rarely broke a sweat.
5. I absolutely can't stand reality TV, with the lone exception being The Amazing Race. It would be so much fun to be a part of one of those races, but who really has 6 weeks to take off from work to do that?
6. I have a weakness for pistachios. My favorites are a brand called Zenobia, which are Turkish pistachios. They are smaller than the California nuts you see at the grocery store, but much tastier. I think you can only get them on-line now, ever since CVS dropped them a few months ago. I'll eat them until I make myself sick. Then I'll eat some more.
7. Both of my parents are the youngest kids in their families, my Dad by 10 years, and my Mom by 11 years. I am the youngest kid in my family as well. I have two uncles old enough to be my grandparents - they fought in WWII!

OK, so now I'm supposed to "tag" 7 people and pass this along as some sort of blogging chain letter. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I know of 7 people, who blog, who haven't already been hit by this bug, so there may be some redundancy here. maybe I'll just tag some randoms and see where it leads?

1. My sister, Laura (http://minetap.blogspot.com/)
2. My wife, Melanie (http://minipearls.blogspot.com/)
3. Laura Gunn (http://lauragunn.typepad.com/paintinmyhair/)
4. My bro-in-law, Daniel (http://boonersmith.blogspot.com/)
5. My bro-in-law, Davey (http://dgsmith.blogspot.com/)
6. Jake (http://diversifiedbeeson2.blogspot.com/)
7. My bro-in-law, Ben (http://thebionicblog.blogspot.com/)

Halloween

2007-10-31T01:49:00.000-07:00

I'm in Prague and I'm missing Halloween, which is arguably one of the more entertaining of holidays when one has children. I just got these pics from my wife. Our church had a "Trunk-or-Treat" last night. This is where people decorate their cars/trunks and then the kids trick-or-treat from car to car through the parking lot and get lots of candy, etc... Basically, it's just a 2nd night of candy hoarding for the kiddos.

Anyway, apparently, my son, Collin's iPod costume was voted the "coolest" costume of the gathering. It also was mistaken for a trash can by more than one person when he took it off so he could eat! He and I worked on it for 2 weeks, so we're pretty proud of it. This is the first time I've actually seen him in it since we finished it late on Saturday.

Kate is Princess Genevieve (from The 12 Dancing Princesses movie).

Logan is a spider and Seth is an elephant.

The twins are making funny faces in this picture because they had just sampled their first lollipops. Logan is the sweet-tooth of the two, and he got pretty excited about the sucker, but Seth didn't take to it as well.

The hotel here is having some sort of Halloween dinner and party tonight, but I think I'll pass. No costume anyway. It should make for some interesting people watching in the lobby, though.

In Prague

2007-10-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

I travelled to Prague, Czech Republic yesterday. I'm here for a business conference, so unfortunately I'll be spending most of my time inside at meetings. My adventure, however, started as soon as I landed.

We were instructed by the conference organizers to NOT take a taxi from the airport to the hotel. Apparently, it is a largely unregulated industry here in Prague, with a propensity to over-charge and/or rip off foreigners. So, we were given instructions on how to make use of the abundant public transportation found here. Now, I purposely did not over-pack, but I had 1 suitcase, a hang-up bag, my laptop bag and a carry-on bag. And now I was going to try to get on a bus into the city center, then transfer to a tram, then walk about 3 blocks to the hotel? Fun. Kinda made me want to take my chances with a cab.

But, being a good and fiscally responsible employee, I heeded the advise of the trip planners and decided to take the bus. This is my bus below.

I bought my ticket (280 Kc, which is about $14 US, for the whole week - not bad, as it covers all buses, trams, and subways), and found the bus stop no problem. When the bus arrived, I turned and picked up all of my luggage, and right when I got to the stairs, the bus driver looked me in the eye, closed the doors, and drove off!

Great! Is this how my stay is going to begin?!

Grumbling, I sat back down and waited another 10 minutes for the next bus.

I should note at this time that I had just gotten off an 8 hour flight from Atlanta, I hadn't really slept in almost 3 days, it was 8am local time, and it was about 30 degrees outside. I was not in a cheery mood.

When the next bus showed up, I grabbed my bags and headed for the door. As soon as the other passengers boarded (I was not the only one waiting, but I WAS the only one with luggage.) the driver (new driver this time) looked me in the eye, closed the doors, and drove off, leaving me standing there holding my bags again! I yelled something at the departing bus (could have been English, but might have passed for Czech) and scared a lady with a couple of small kids that was walking past, and started to formulate a plan for the next bus. I was determined to not miss it again.

When I saw the next bus coming 1/2 block away, I picked up my bags (all of them at once) and pushed my way to the front of the line. Noone protested, but it's possible they might have sensed my precarious mental state. As soon as the doors opened, I vaulted myself onto the bus and into a big pile on the floor. Then the bus sat there for about 5 minutes while a passenger in a wheel chair got off. I had to move my bags out of the way so they could disembark. But I made it! And that's what is important here. Victory was mine.

The rest of the journey to the hotel (right) was quite uneventful. Despite the apparent rudeness of the airport bus drivers, everyone else I have come in contact with here has been incredibly helpful, nice, and accomodating.

Prague is a very beautiful city. I took some time last night to walk around some of the historical parts of town, and I am greatly impressed. Found a nice little restaurant right on the central square of the old city. The picture menu helped. Lots of old buildings and cool architecture. I can't wait to see more!

Tight Jeans

2007-10-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

Melanie received an email yesterday with the following picture attached:

Now, I know this is certainly not the focal point of the picture, but I think it is pretty clear that the guy in the background does not own a mirror. Or underpants, for that matter. This goes WAY beyond the Levi's 501 effect.

Naughty kids

2007-10-24T11:55:00.001-07:00

So, last night, Melanie had a "thing" with the Young Women organization in our ward, so I got to put everyone to bed. The twins were fed, so all I had to do was bathe them, dress them in PJs, make them bottles, and put them in bed. Simple, right? These guys are easy - what could go wrong?

Well, I got them bathed no problem. Cute little guys love taking baths in the utility sink in our laundry room. They do this thing where they raise their hands up and play with the water as it comes out of the faucet. They would stay in there all night if I let them, and if they didn't keep trying to stand up, then slipping, and almost vaulting themselves out of the basin.

Anyway, they were now clean, so I got them out and put diapers on them. Since they're getting big, and they're very wiggly, I took Logan upstairs first and set him down on the landing at the top of the stairs. He looked longingly at the toy room/loft that is right there, so I told him to go say "hi" to Collin, who was taking a shower at that time in the master bathroom. Then I went down to get Seth.

When I came up with Seth (like 30 seconds later, or less even), Logan was gone. I found him, as requested, in the master bathroom, sitting still, talking to Collin, and watching Collin take a shower. So I left him there and took Seth into the twins' room to put his PJs on. I once heard someone say that putting PJs (or any clothing, really) onto a baby is akin to trying to stuff an octopus into a mesh bag. I can see the similarities, though I have never attempted the latter. That task completed, however, I set off in search of Logan to do the same. I did not have to travel far, as just as I turned to leave the room, he came scurrying into the room at a dead out sprint (hands and knees). He was soaking wet. Hmmm. COLLIN!! No response. Grumbling, I dried Logan off with something I found on the floor of his room, then quickly (see above comment on dressing babies) got him dressed for bed.

At this moment, I realized that I had completely neglected to prepare bottles for them, so I left them playing on the floor of their room and went downstairs to get bottles and formula, chastising Collin along the way for apparently having "spit" several mouthfuls of water on Logan from the shower.

Upon returning, I find Seth crawling down the hall, so I scooped him up, plugged his bottle into his mouth, and put him in his crib. Cute little fella was just happy to finally be in bed! "So, where is Logan?" I ask myself. That's when I heard the yelling and screaming coming from the other bathroom. I arrived there to find Logan (in his PJs) standing next to the tub, where Kate was taking her evening bath, gleefully splashing the water (which was about 3 inches from the edge) and Kate pouring water on his head. Collin was there, too, laughing, screaming, and splashing, apparently not at all affected by the scolding he had just received for his own baby-soaking incident but a few minutes before.

Needless to say, Collin & Kate forfeited their dessert for the evening, and Logan basically got 3 baths in the span of 15 minutes.

Weekend with Daddy

2007-10-22T12:12:00.000-07:00

Melanie is in a book club that meets once a month. This month, they decided to do an "over-nighter" up at her cousin's cabin/palace in Payson. So, I got kid duty. Not a big deal, really. I like kids. I even like my kids. So, I planned a fun time for us, complete with junk food, staying up way too late, and a complete neglect of personal hygiene. I even worked from home on Friday so I wouldn't have to worry about rushing home so that Melanie could get away whenever she was ready to leave. What I didn't count on was being so completely busy with work that the kids, yes all 4 of them, just ran amok through the house for about a hour and 1/2 after Mel left before I could tend to them. Mel's dream of coming home the next day to a clean and orderly house was dashed before she even left town! Collin and Kate tore apart the loft/play room, Logan got into the pantry, and Seth came into the office and clung to my leg whilst screaming for most of that period of time. I soon got the message that the work week was now officially over.

Once I got myself organized, I decided it would be criminal to not take advantage of this opportunity to take the kids out for dinner (like I'm gonna cook at home!), so we went to In-N-Out Burger, home of the Double-Double and animal style fries. This place is akin to Mecca for those in our family, so the choice was a no-brainer; however, with all 4 kids and no adult assistance, it has its challenges.

Surprisingly, it wasn't very crowded at 6:30pm on a Friday night (did I miss something?), and we were able to actually find a place to sit. We were all quite hungry, so we all got cheeseburgers, except for the twins, as they are prohibited from eating dairy, so they got a plain burger. I did zest it up a little for them, though, and had the "chef" put some spread on it for the little guys. Cutest thing is watching those guys go through a hamburger! They love fries with ketchup as well, so I let them indulge. Melanie would be so proud!

While I was monitoring the twins' progress and trying to eat my own food before it got cold (In-N-Out is heaven, unless it gets cold, then it's something not nearly as celestial), Kate was putting all of her In-N-Out kids stickers all over my back, in places I could not reach. I had to get Collin to pull them off, and it must have looked like one of those Discovery Channel shows about gorillas where they groom each other by picking ticks and mites off each others backs. At least he wasn't eating them as he pulled them off, although judging by the amount of ketchup that was on them, they probably wouldn't have tasted half bad. Needless to say, now my white shirt had red splotches all over the back, and it must have looked like I got shot or something. Now the twins were screaming, something about their burger being on the floor and it being past their bed time. I stuffed some fries in their mouths (sans ketchup - for the screaming), then gathered up the crew and headed for the door.

Once at home, I put the babies to bed (they are so easy in that regard - PJs, a bottle, and their blankets, and they're good to go), then decided to watch a movie with Collin and Kate. Collin wanted "The Pink Panther" and Kate wanted "The Haunted Mansion". A fight ensued. Collin won, and that was a good thing, too. Ends up, as benign as "The Haunted Mansion" is, it would have kept the both of them up all night with nightmares, and I had plans to sleep in. Ends up, "The Pink Panther" is quite funny, and Collin got a real kick out of it. Kate fell asleep - she did not get a nap earlier in the day, and, frankly, I'm surprised she lasted as long as she did.

I actually got to sleep in on Saturday. One of the babies got up around 5:30 am (I was in a bit of a stupor and they kind of look the same anyway, especially in the dark, but I think it was Logan) in need of a diaper change and a new bottle, but other than that it was a peaceful night. I heard Collin & Kate whispering in the hall around 7am - something about being quiet so as to not wake Dad. Such considerate and loving children I have! I finally staggered out of bed around 9am, fed everyone some Cream of Wheat, and then we all watched "The Haunted Mansion", since it was light out and arguably a little less spooky. Well, about 1/2 way through the movie I looked over at Kate, and she was visibly shaking with fear. Something about the corpses in the crypt coming to life and chasing Eddie Murphy and his daughter didn't sit well with her. I sat with her for the rest of the movie, and we took turns peeking through the holes in the afghan and reporting to each other what was going on in the movie. That helped to ease her mind somewhat, but she's been talking about it ever since. Poor kid was freaked out!

I think Melanie expected me to be challenged somewhat by my night with the kids. I hate to disappoint, but it was a lot of fun, and it ends up I slept more than she did. She said she was up until 3am yakking with her girlfriends - not sure if the book of the month ever came up - and got up early for breakfast and antique shopping. Just goes to show you that sometimes even Dad can pull it off.

Of course, it's not really fair. I'm leaving for Prague next week, and I'll be gone all week. I'll never pay down that debt.

My "band"

2007-10-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm in an a cappella performing group. My wife calls it a boy band. So be it. It's a hobby. However, if you happen to come see us perform and you are expecting some sweet choreographed dance moves and thousands of swooning teenage girls throwing their lingerie at us, well you'll be gravely disappointed. Dance moves are pretty much non-existent - we don't even let a couple of the guys snap (think "The Jerk", starring Steve Martin) - and the only girls swooning over us are our wives and daughters - and Mom. My wife, Melanie, does still harbor illusions of teenage innocence (see her blog : http://minipearls.blogspot.com/2007/10/i-could-still-pass-for-17-right.html) and my daughter, Kate, is barely 4, so I'm not sure if the swooning on my behalf is genuine fan adoration or simply family loyalty. I'll accept the cheers however they come! (Side note: still no sign of lingerie at any of our shows. Mom, keep yours on.)

We do have a lot of fun with it, however, and we actually have a few shows coming up:

On Nov. 19th, we'll be singing at the Festival of Trees fund raiser at the new Banner Gateway Hospital. On Dec 1st, we're headlining the City of Chandler Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. And on Dec 16th, we're performing at the Mesa, AZ Mormon Temple Christmas Lights concert. So, if you want to check us out, please stop by at any of these public gatherings.

As for us being a "boy band", I have some issues with that moniker. Now, I will admit that we do have the one bad-boy guy with facial hair, a couple of pretty boys, a sporty guy, and a quiet brooding type, but that's as far as it goes.

First of all, we all do have to shave regularly, and secondly, none of us, to my knowledge, has ever dated J-Lo. We don't (and can't) dance, and I'm pretty sure we're all straight. So there you have it.

We do have a great sound, though, and we're in the process of cutting a CD, so please check us out if you get the chance. We're called MC6, and we have a blog at http://mc6acappella.blogspot.com/.

In trouble in DC

2007-10-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

About 3 weeks ago, my wife and I went to Washington, DC for a little "us" time away from the kids. Well, actually, I was going anyway because I had a meeting there, but we decided to take advantage of the already-being-paid-for-by-the-company airfare (for me at least) and fancy hotel and, for minimal additional cost to make a week of it together.

We had a grand ol' time seeing our nation's capital, sampling many of the museums and historical sites, not to mention the many fine restaurants. It was on the way to one of those fine culinary establishments that I forged the lasting memory of our romantic stay in DC.

See, we did not rent a car for this trip, on the advise from the travel agent, as parking is expensive and virtually non-existent in DC, and for the fact that the DC Metro (subway) system is quite extensive and easy to use. So we pretty much got everywhere we needed to go by either taking the Metro or by walking. And we did a LOT of walking.

Anyway, I had been in a boring meeting all day long, and finally I was free and we were now on our way to a South American restaurant, Cafe Atlantico (http://www.cafeatlantico.com/), recommended by the guidebook. We decided to take the Metro, as it was way too far to walk, and our journey beneath the earth would require a transfer to another train line in order to get where we needed to go.

Upon disembarking the Red line, we made our way to the platform for the Yellow/Green line and there awaited the next train. Now, it was only our 2nd day in DC, and we were still getting used to the Metro system. So, I checked the signs and positioned us on the platform to catch the train to our destination stop. The train arrived and we shuffled aboard. At that time I decided to check the map posted inside the train to make sure we were headed the right way, and quickly discovered that we were in fact heading the wrong way! So I quickly said to Melanie, who was standing right next to me, and right next to the still-open door, that we had made a mistake and that we should get off the train, and then I bolted off the train. Just as the doors closed. Melanie did not make it off. I will never forget the look on her face as the train pulled away and she mouthed to me, whilst pointing to the spot where I was standing, "Stay right there."

So, I stayed right there. For over 20 minutes. The next stop down the line was not very far away, and I figured an average person could probably make the turn around and be back to the platform in about 5 minutes. Well, I waited a long time, searching every train that came through (easily 15 trains), and I could not find her anywhere. I knew I was in big trouble, but was unsure how to fix things. Our cell phones did not work in the Metro (T-Mobile - go figure. Although I did notice a number of Verizon customers that had plenty of cell coverage down there!), so that idea was out.

Finally, I decided that the best thing I could do was to just go to our destination stop and wait for her there. And lo and behold, as I came up the long dreadful escalator at the Metro exit,

there she was, my sweet little buttercup, with flaming hair and red darts for eyes. Apparently, she had been waiting for about 20 minutes. Hmmm. Sorry about that honey. Say, which way to the restaurant?

Dinner was fair at best. I had some weird chicken dish. Very expensive and not nearly enough food. Mel really liked the arugula salad, though.

Singing in the car

2007-10-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm driving to work this morning, jamming to "White Wedding" on my iPod and doing my best Billy Idol impersonation (yes, sneer and all),

when I look over at the car next to me and a dude that looks EXACTLY like Billy Idol is staring back at me! I'm talking blond spikey hair, earrings, and, yep, you guessed it, the sneer. Made my day, and it was only 8:30am.