Harvest Festival

Lisa and I, as the stake humanitarian specialists, are a part of our Stake Welfare Committee(SWC). This year the SWC was in charge of the Stake Harvest Festival. It was a great time this weekend for everyone, well except for the poor kid who broke his arm. We had carnival type games, bounce houses, big blowup slides, a live band and food, food and more food.

The idea was to try and get people to be excited about gardening. We made it out to be kind of like a county fair. We had contests for things you grow, bake and make as well as fun things like the carnival stuff and the live band. I have to say that it all came together well and fun was had by all. We started the festival with a parade of gardens that showcased cardens throught the stake. People got a chance to see what other people were doing. I was one of the judges for the food and so I would taste something and then, so that I did not get full or my taste buds get desensitized I would spit it out. There was a buttermilk pie there that I swallowed, twice! Once the judging was done everyone showed up and we ate a great deal of chilli, cornbread and deserts.

Being on the SWC is a lot of fun at times and very rewarding when you see the people have a good time and come away a little bit better people. It does not matter what the activity is the people show up and help out and turn the whole thing into a success. I have learned how important even the smallest contributor is in making the whole thing work. It is not the person in charge or at the head that makes it work. It is the people doing all the little things like running a carnival booth or setting up the water table. that makes it a success.

So if you missed the Harvest Festival it was your loss, even you people in Arizona. It would be worth the trip to come up for this thing. For pictures of the whole event click here.

Coach

So let me get you caught up. I am, for the next 8 weeks coach Stock. I took over as head coach of one of the Eagle Mountain B teams. Nobody else wanted to so I took it on. Lisa hates this time of year as it gets really busy and I become obsessed with football instead of her. Yes folks she gets jealous of football and she should there is nothing better then football. It is played at a beautiful time of the year, it is the greatest game ever invented for Men and boys to get out all their energy and aggression. But in all fairness Lisa would leave me for several conservative commentators so I do not feel so bad.

We had our first game last Saturday and I was very impressed with the team. In the first quarter they scored 3 touchdowns on us. In the second quarter they scored 1 touchdown. In the second half they got only one first down and that was with only 2 minutes left to play. Offense went much the same. We did not score but by the second half we were getting first downs right and left. It was a lot of fun to see them work so hard for it. We got within 3 yards and on the last play they did a shift on the defense just before the ball snapped and we could not push it through. But coming from last year where we only got something like 2 or 3 first downs the whole season I think we are doing great!

I tell the boys that in life all you have to do is improve a little bit each day and you will eventually pass up all those people who do not improve a little bit each day. Simple yet profound, kind of like me.

The costof rasing a child

Check out this article on the cost of rasing kids. Explains a lot. My kids better get me an awsome nursing home!

Perspective

When I was a kid my Dad always tried to get me to see things through other peoples eyes. As I have gotten older I have learned the power of doing that. My favorite Aunt sent me a link that explains this perfectly. It is a video made by pampers that you have got to go watch.

http://www.pampers.co.uk/en_GB/video/babyseyes.jsp

17 Years

I have now been married to Lisa for 17 years. The actual date is July 30th however I am very late getting this posted. I did not forget I just have not posted. This year I surprised Lisa with a getaway to the other side of the Wasatch. We had a lot of fun. On Friday the 31st I took the day off work and we went up to Park City and rode the alpine slides. It was a lot of fun. We had passes to go three times but the lines were so long we only went twice. Personally I think the slides and coasters are a rip off but who listens to me. For an all day pass it costs as much as Disneyland! I digress...
After riding the slides we drove over and checked into our bed and breakfast. It was a quaint little place that was really nice. It is ran by an older couple that do a great job. We stayed in the old world room which is really nice. Although it is a little pricey it was a great place. Bed and Breakfasts are pricey anyway. When we were all settled in we went downstairs and had ordurves. I am not that kind of guy but these were really good. They also have a never ending cookie plate and that was nice to have around. The nuts and other snack items were great as well. That evening we went to dinner at a roadside place and had some tacos. It wasn't to bad. We then went to the Rodeo. Lisa and I love the rodeo. It is always a treat to go to and the Wasatch county fair puts on a great show. Half the fun is the announcer and the clown in the ring. We did not stay for the bull ridding as much fun as that would be because it was just getting way to late.
The next morning we had a good breakfast. They did German pancakes which Lisa really liked. I thought they were OK but I am a breakfast snob. I did love the sausage, it was spicy and full of flavor. We then caught a movie, the proposal, and went shopping. The shopping was shopping and I have never understood it but I do like hanging with Lisa and seeing her enjoy herself so it was fun. The proposal was great except they through in a scene with Sandra Bullock naked. Yes her nipples were covered and her crotch but it was tasteless and unnecessary. I would not recommend it. It was a great weekend but the real fun has been being married to my best friend for the last 17 years.

Healthcare Reform

I know I have not posted in a while. I have had an anniversary, birthday, I am now head football coach, and scout master. I will post about those things soon but had to drop this picture real quick to express how I feel about health care reform. You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. (If you click on the link for the economics blog on the left you can read a great article entitled "The Real Right to Medical Care Versus Socialized Medicine"
By George Reisman. Or you can click here)