U11 Soccer Choir

Sunday we had our traditional Sunday before Christmas Dinner at G-ma and G-pa Smiths. Tyler's soccer team decided to do a service project and go sing at a rest home in Taylorsville. Tyler decided he wanted to do that even if he had to miss part of the party at Grandma's. That in and of it's self made me feel quite good.

Any way a couple of other things that made me feel really good.

As they were forming the Choir and asking the boys to volunteer they "quoted" me and wrote "as Mogie says ' we are not just building great soccer players we are building great young men". I must admit that made me feel pretty good. Sometimes you wonder how much good you are doing and if it is worth all the time. Moments like that make me feel like it is.

Now away from me I must give JaiDee credit. She put together a GREAT program and the boys had a good time with it while bringing some love to not just the habitants of the Golden Living Center but also all of us in attendance. I was touched by the boys and their sincerity. It was definitely a highlight of my day. Thanks JaiDee and everyone who helped her from piano players, drivers, cupcake makers, cocoa providers and the rest of you. It was a great experience not just for Tyler but for me too.

The Year of Disney

Here is the problem with postponing things. I kept putting of Disney reports because I wanted to get the pictures. Well fact is I still do not have the pictures form our trip in November of 2010. It was probably the best. We cashed in our give a day get a day voucher, then upgraded to a 4 day pass (so we could be there for the holiday) and then at the end of the trip turned it into a season pass. All because of the ticket sales. I must say it was really hard to not be at the game, but it was so worth the time I had with the family. We did a few thing we would not normally do, like buy food inside the park. At first the kids just looked at me weird and I would say " just thank those crazy Ute fans for paying for our trip. By the end we all would do things and just say "THANKS UTES". It made it more pleasant for me at least. I Love it for multiple reason. Disneyland is one of the few paces I can act childish and people don't think I am overly weird. I say overly because my kids still think I am weird. I lived the holiday decorations. It made it even a bit more special.

They also had introduced a new light show since we were there last. It is called World of Color. The first night we were there we went to see it and did not know how to handle the crowd and we were in a not so good location and the boys were tired and could not see very well. About 2/3 of the way thru I decided to just take Tanner home because he was making it so neither of us could enjoy the show. He was so tired that he fell asleep before I could even get to the Golden Gate Bridge. By the time I get out to Harbor his dead body weight is killing my shoulders. I swap him to my arms and continue to the castle down by Katella. A building before the hotel my arms can not take it any more either so I need to shift him and he wakes up, happy and ready to go because he has had his 20 minute nap. We went and got a pizza and had a good time together in the room waiting for the others to get home.

The next day we enjoyed the park again, but planned better for the show. We got better seats and were more rested. The boys (actually everyone) enjoyed it more the second night. The next night we went to the fireworks. I think the fireworks are really good, but in all honesty I do not remember as much about them. A couple trips ago we started getting Ice cream to share at the beginning while we wait. I think I like that time the best, as we all huddle up and talk together sitting in the street at Disneyland.

In March, Karen and I went back with the Phersons. It took me a while to adjust. I am use to the kids and trying to ride as many things as we can. I started collecting fast passes and finally had Karen ask "what are you doing? Do you know why we are here? It's not for the rides." I slowed down after that and just spent time with Karen. It was really nice. I need to make that mind shift more often.
The Phersons are incredible people. They are great examples to us. Karen has a lot of good friends, but I would have to say Cindy is the Best. They just go well together. I got to know Daryl a lot better too. He has a weird side to him and sure likes to tease. We got along quite well. I would do it again in a heart beat. We could both just make comments to each other and laugh because we were on the same page with our thoughts a lot.

One of the days with Phersons we went on a drive instead of going to the park. It was really cool (at least for me). This is 302 Larkspur Ave in Corona Del Mar. I spent my childhood vacations here. It sure has changed since I was staying here. It was a modest 1 story home then with an apartment in the back over the garage where we stayed. The neighbors house on the corner was even smaller. I would not recognize it if not for the address. The Hayes provided a lot for us to enjoy, some pretty incredible vacations. Then when they passed away they provided a bonus from their inheritance that gave us the money to buy the land and build where we now live and enable us to be with such great neighbors that we have a around us now. We truly are blessed.

Imperfections

Well, I decided to use this as a journal entry and I still am horrible at writing in it to keep my memories. Although instead of focusing on the bad I want to focus on some of the good in the next few post to be able to retain some memories. There have been a lot of good ones too!



I liked this picture. We were outside at the temple waiting for Brian and Anna to come out. I love the SLC Temple. It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world (in my opinion). Well there I am marveling at this great building and them I get up close and see these imperfections in each of the Granite stones. It made me think about how we are as people too. If we can step back and look at the person as a whole (not just one stone at a time, we can see a masterpiece, but when we get too close sometimes we just focus on the imperfections. It has helped me with the kids at home, my coworkers, kids I am coaching, and even myself. I will forgive myself for many of my short comings as long as I am working to make a masterpiece. I think the Lord would be happy with that as well.

This is Brian and Anna. She is a great addition to the family. She matches Brian. They are both leaders and look for the positive in situations and people. They really seem to make each other happy and have found the best way to do it is thru service to others. Good examples for us. As I said they are very fun too. My kids look forward to them being at family activities because they introduce games to the group instead of sitting around like old fogies.

My new Career

Well, as mentioned in the previous post I became a Crimson Club member and a Utah Football season ticket holder. I did this because several years ago I missed the BYU-Utah Football game. The only one (besides my mission) that I can remember missing. The cheapest ticket I could get was $100. I did not want to go alone and so even if I just took one kid it was $200 and then the question, which kid do I take. Well I chose to watch at home. It ended up being the Beck to Harlene in the end zone year. It will go down in history and I missed it. So in an attempt to not have that happen again I purchased Season tickets for $115 2 years later. Then this year went to do the same thing. The Utes have actually built a football program and there is more of a demand on tickets. Taking advantage of it, the Utes raised their prices a bit and encouraged people to join the crimson club for priority on tickets. I did and was grateful, because an actual Ute fan at work did not join and could not get tickets. That in and of itself made me laugh. He did come and offer to buy some of my tickets from me, knowing I would not want to go to all of them. The thing is he wanted 3 games in particular: Oregon St, TCU and BYU. Those were all the money makers for me plus the BYU game was the reason I purchased in the first place. As It turns out as a crimson club member I was able to purchase additional tickets to those games at a slightly higher price so I was able to help him.

As the season progressed it became quite the adventure. The home opener was Oregon St and I moved to make some of my money back. I had planned how much I needed for each ticket to cover all my cost including my crimson club fees. I figured I would not get it all on each game but would reduce my costs greatly. As it turns out the demand for Oregon was a bit better than expected and I got an additional 15 per ticket than what I planned. They ended up winning and climbed in the polls. The frenzy had started.

The next few weeks the Utes played the weak part of their schedule and continued to win, climbing higher and higher in the polls. So did TCU which looked to be the Big game of the year. Each game I ended getting a bit more than I needed and it looked like I could use the TCU game as mere profit and be going to the BYU game for free. A couple weeks before the TCU game I posted my tickets for 150 each. I Had a couple people call and offer me half price. I waited it out feeling comfortable that if nothing else some TCU fan coming in from Texas would pay the price. Instead the Utes and TCU both won over the weekend and I ended up selling the tickets for 175. The first lady who called and offered half, called me back and wanted the tickets at full price. She needed to get 30 for a business group. I no longer had the tickets but referred her to a friend who had some and sold 6 of his for 200 each. She actually thanked me and asked about the BYU game. Ouch - the dilemma. Well I calculated what it was worth to me to miss it. I sold my 12 tickets to the game for 175 each and made plans to take the family to Disneyland. I can really say now that I like the Utes. Especially when they pay for my family to go to Disneyland. :)

All of this was done before the TCU game. As it turned out the Utes got racked. They were behind 40-0 before anyone knew what had happened. I felt really bad for my Utah friends and then thought of the poor people who had paid big bucks to see their team get murdered. All of a sudden my trip to Disney looked even better. The entire trip when ever we would do something I told my kids to thank some poor ute fan. Again we laughed. Any way, I was so good at reading the market that Karen decided it should be my part time job. We will have to look into it. If nothing else it was very entertaining and profitable for one season.

Where does the time go?

This entry will be a hodgepodge of items. As I was coming to work today I realized I was missing some memories of simple things if I don't write some of them down. So....

Funny Things:

Watching a tow truck being picked up by another tow truck. Made me laugh.

Last night while replacing carpet pad that was ruined by our fridge leaking I cut myself on the tack strip. It was not horrible, but hurt bad. I sent Tanner up to get me a band aid so I could keep working. He runs upstairs and screams "Dad has cut his finger" Total panic in his voice and I hear his feet spring across the floor toward the bathroom where the bandiads are. It makes me laugh. Then a realization of every thing that had happened. Tanner is paniced and shows that to everyone in the house. What happens next made me really laugh. Tanner returns with the bandaid. No one else in the house even responds. Just life as normal. Makes me wonder if it had been as serious as his voice made it sound would anyone have come to help. I told Ashley about it this morning and we both just started laughing.

Last week we got a new Bishopric. Three good guys released. Three new good guys put in. New experiences for the ward and these individuals to help us all grow and learn together. The week before the change was made the Stake presidency informed us of the change and then told us not to speculate anything about the changes. I think, "why tell us then?" I must not have been the only one thinking it and we were then told that the reason we were being told was to help us be ready to sustain who ever was called. My next sarcastic thought was "who are they calling that I will have problems sustaining" That made me laugh too. Hopefully the Stake presidency did not think I was laughing at them. Then on Tuesday I finish helping with the MHS boys soccer tryouts. There to pick up his son is the Stake President. I walk over to him and said that he could help me not to speculate if he would just tell me who the new bishopric was. He laughed, but did not share with me. Oh well, it was worth a try and definitely worth the laugh.

In order to guarantee a ticket to the BYU-Utah football game this year I bought season tickets to the U, figuring I could sell the other games and get my ticket cheaper. I also had to join the Crimson club to get bumped up on the list of available tickets. Many friends have ribbed me , the ultimate BYU fan, for being a crimson club member. Last week I saw a license plate holder that said "Not just a fan, a Crimson Club Member". I thought I need to get one that says "Not a fan, Just a Crimson Club Member"

Next up: hopefully with more time this afternoon an entry on Utah Football and Disneyland

And Such Like

That is a favorite saying of my boss(Tim Daffern). I don't think he even realizes how much he says it. Then again, I don't think he realizes how much he has influenced my life. He is a great guy. I have been going thru an evaluation time lately. You see, Tim has cancer. About 9 months ago Tim was having some stomache problems. He was diagnossed with Pancriatic Cancer. His chances were not good. Becasue of our relationship, we had shared spiritual experiences long before this moment and they allowed us to have some great conversations at that time.

Tim and I like to joke (sometimes in ways that can seem morbid). We both have a great vision of life and it's purpose. We know and trust the plan of Salvation. We know heavenly father has a puropose in everything He is doing and trust Him. Because of that, Tim has spoken very openly about death and how much time he had left. It freaked a lot of people out and created a release for myself and Tim.

Several months later Tim got word that the Kimo and radiation were goign well and his percentage of survival was going up. He had a chance to beat it or at least live 5-10 more years. That was great news.

At the beginning of this year Tim had some more severe pains and problems and went to the Hospital. It was discovered that the cancer ahd regrouped and was attacking in Full strength. Tim's days are numbered. In fact last week we thought we lost him. I was very grateful he pulled out and I got another chance to see him.

He is in the office today. I just visited most of his day away with him just now. Again we had an open disusion of things/worries that he is concerned with. The funny/nice thing is, it is not about death. It is about taking care of things he needs to do to make sure his family will be fine after he goes. Also, how he is excited to see his Dad and Brother again and how his Mom (age 86) thinks it's not fair that Tim gets to go first.

I told him of several discusions I have had with co-workers who "need" to understand how Tim can be reacting the way he has. It has created oportunities for me to share the gospel with them. As Tim said today, we are all pawns in the Lord's great work. Sometimes the things that happen to us are not for us, but for others around us to learn. I think that is definately part of what is going on with Tim.

Anyway over the past few weeks(months) I have been thinking about how much I owe Tim. He was assigned as my trainer at the tax commission. I am very grateful. Because of his training I advanced quickly at tax and recieved good job opportunities there. It was also Tim that brought me to WCF. I have had a great job working here that has enable me to do many things with a very flexible schedule and a good pay rate. I also like the people I am around. More than that I have developed a friendship with Tim that will last well beyond my time here on earth and gained a greater testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Any friend who can help you do that, is a really good friend. Thanks Tim!!!!

Give A Day Get a Day

Last night for FHE we did our volunteer day for Disney's give a day get a day. It was a good experience. We delivered food for the Utah food bank. It is quite simple, just time consuming, which is why they need help with man hours. We divided into 3 cars and each took our 4 deliveries and headed out. I had the 2 boys. Karen was with Rachel and Ashley and Jessica went together. The hardest part was finding some of the homes.

Our first home was at an assisted living center. It was the right place to start because it made the boys feel good and we were just helping this nice old man. The next few were not as comfortable. They were all 3 in a not so nice neighborhood. The people seemed quite nice but it was not as comfortable for any of us. However, it was a great experience to have the kids help someone and see how truly blessed we are. The last home we went to was a nice old lady and her son who was about my age. The house was run down and smelled heavy of smoke. They had a little cute dog that Tanner was scared of. It's name was Mokie. When the guy first called to the dog I honestly thought he was talking to me and could not figure out how he knew my name. The lady seemed like she had been on the couch for years but got herself up to see the boys. I think it really freaked out the boys as she stroked their hair and told them how cute they were. I am sure she just really needed visitors almost as much as the food. We did try to visit briefly at every house so it would make it a bit more personal.

Ashley and Jess had the most interesting visit. The food bank told us that everyone had been called and knew we were coming. One of there people actually hind in the house from them. The light were all off and no one answered the door but they saw them peaking out the window. When they left they went the wrong way and had to turn around and passed back by the house. Within 30 second of leaving the owners had come out, turned on all the lights, and were scavenging thru the boxes and bagged items. Just seemed a bit weird.

Over all it was a great experience. It took us a bit out of our comfort zone, let us give service and see how truly blessed we are. The kids were very thankful for our standard of living, the food we always have and the very comfortable home and neighborhood we live in. We are very blessed. And now we get a ticket to Disney for having done this. Sounds like a great deal to me.