Legally John-d

My brother John was just selected for a clerkship with the Indiana Supreme Court. Cudos to John. He and Abbi and their kids will love Indianapolis. Plus it is "the clerkship" he wanted.

Merry Christmas, John and family. Don't get flojo in your last semester, you still have to pass the bar.

We're thrilled that Father in Heaven has blessed you with this opportunity.

Twilight!

OK, this movie is HUGE! I haven't seen this many chicks all lathered up since Danny, Donnie, Joey, John and Jordan were "Hanging Tough" by showing that they had "The Right Stuff", even if they had to take it "Step-by-Step!"

As you may have heard, the movie is raking in all kinds of dough, and not just in this hotbed of Mormondom. DISCLAIMER: I haven't seen the movie or read the book. Cyndie would rather take me to see "Quantum of Solace" than "Twilight". I WIN!

Cyndie has read the first 3 books (Breaking Wind, er, Breaking Dawn is in the stack of stuff by her bed).

Twenty years ago she was in love with the vampires from Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, "The Lost Boys", and Ursula Le Guin. Everyone thought she was a freak. In fact, there was an English teacher who commented more than once on her "affinity for dark things".

She swears that if she'd had such valiant vampires to lust after in her teens, she'd have saved us all some grief, but she's "pretty much past that now". She does confess, however to being more interested in the Volturi than the other covens.

I know we'll see the Cullens on Netflix, but in the mean time, my theater dollars will go to the likes of "Ironman", James Bond, Star Trek, and Adam Sandler's "Bedtime Stories".

Skynard?

Dateline Murray UT - 11/15/08 - 7:12 am

Cyndie had the news on yesterday morning while Dane was eating breakfast. She went upstairs for a minute. When she came back in the kitchen, she noticed that Dane was really excited.

"Guess what, Mom? I just saw the new President: Rock Alabama! He was on TV!"

The Littlest Snowman in the World

We got about 5" of snow last Wednesday. My boss was in town from LA, so he was questioning his timing and scheduling skills. He had hoped to golf with us. No such luck, but I did schedule a nice lunch meeting with a customer. The views turned out to be picturesque in the snow. Wish my camera had been there!

When I came home, I was greated by the worlds smallest snowman:

Tate was very proud!

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

We LOVE Halloween at our place! Dressing up, running around the neighborhood, carving jack-o-lanterns, it is all part of the fun.

This year, Tate is protesting Halloween. No moral objection, just "too homesick for Omaha to dress up..." For the autism-initiated, any change is difficult for children with Autism. Tate has done a yeoman's job of adapting, but some things are just too much for him. We pick our battles (yes he goes to Church, no he doesn't have to go to trick-or-treating).

I tried to convince him that he should go out as a protester. I told him that I would make him a sign with an anti-Halloween message, he could wear a robe and sandles, maybe hold a megaphone or something. Then he could just stand back with me and let Dane go to the doors... unfortunately, no such luck.

Here are some action shots from this year's festivities...

Tate's favorite Halloween treat is Candy popcorn balls. He has little use for caramel popcorn (though the rest of us can live on it) so we tried a new recipe. Apparently there are nuances to being a protester!

We also made mini caramel and candy apples. Cyndie used a melon-baller to get small round apple pieces, then dipped them in caramel and liquid candy. Unfortunately, the skinless apples don't hold their cover too well. Bite-sized treats are good in any case!

The aforementioned boycott did apply to jack-o-lantern carving... this the first year in several that we haven't used pumpkins grown in our own garden. We sold our pumpkin patch with the house (ok, we really didn't have another plan, so buy a pumpkin patch for $200,000 and we'll make you such a deal on the house!) We were thrilled when Bompa's neighbor, Bryant "The Farmer" Miller dropped by a few gourd offerings for us to transform into major hauntings.

After watching a Food Network Halloween special with Tate (another area which transcends the boycott), we decided that we needed to try some "advanced" techniques in carving.

This one ended up somewhere between Zack Efron ("High School Musical") and Max ("Where the Wild Things Are"). Dane suggested that we should put a "cute little BunnyWabbit" on the side.

In the interest of protesting all things diabolical, here's our wholly holy offering: Bob and Larry from VeggieTales.

On the big night, Dane and I went through the neighborhood, saw friends and had a great time at a post trick-or-treat party (we tried to convince Tate that it wasn't Halloween related, but he's way too smart for that!).

Pedro Lacks Relevant Political Experience

For the last 3 years, the BYU MBA Marketing Association (MBAMA) has sponsored an end of August retreat in Moab, UT for the first years to get acclimated and associated with the returning students. I have been invited to attend as an alumnus and was asked to present on Marketing, my career, B2B vs B2C and such...

This year I had been in Moab for about 3 days with a customer working on a project in that area. The last morning, I was looking for a clean shirt and came up with my "Vote for Pedro" shirt. I showed up for the Hummer Safari with the students and some of the students were chuckling at my shirt, but they weren't laughing at me. It turns out that Jeremy Coon, one of the producers of the film "Napoleon Dynamite", source of the Pedro shirt, was among the students. We chatted briefly and ended up together on the Hummer Safari at the point where we all got out and snapped some pics, including this one overlooking the Colorado River:

Here are a few other pics from the event.

Clone Wars

While I am writing the last post, I noticed that the multi-sheet copy feed on the priter is kaddy-wampus.

"Who broke the printer?" I asked.

"You mean the cloner?" Dane replied.

Yeah, we don't get too in to Star Wars Here.

Utah in 6 Weeks

We've been in the house about six weeks now. (When we have all the boxes unpacked, we'll post a few pics, Diana).

Here are a few fun highlights of our time thus far in our new home.

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We hit the Utah State Fair this fall. It was really cool. We saw lots of great animals: Horses, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, white tigers and fish (some of which the boys caught themselves!)






The boys wanted to ride a roller coaster, so we put them on it. I tried to get a picture of their faces as it raced by, sadly my camera speed and the coaster speed were not compatible. Suffice it to say that Tate was thrilled, and Dane literally kissed the ground when he got off the ride. Wish I'd had the camera ready for that one.


Dane got his first trip to LaVell Edwards Stadium this fall. Here's a picture of us at the home opener versus Northern Iowa. It was a fantastic time, and we have enjoyed watching our beloved Cougars defeat (NIU) Panthers, Bears (UCLA Bruins) and (Wyoming) Cowboys as he'll tell us frequently. Dane has witnessed two consecutive shutouts and some potent offense. I'll catch him whistling or singing the Cougar Fight Song while walking around the house. He was "Star of the Week" at school last week and each of his classmates made a poster of "Dane is special because..." We have picked out some good friends for him since some of his classmates listed "He likes BYU" as a reason. Good kids!

Dane has graduated from his SpongeBob SquarePants hat to a Cougar hat in recent weeks... He's all CougarFan...

with a strong affinity for the Cougar Marching Band (he got to play the drums after the game in week 1):


But if you ask him what's the best part of the game, I am not sure he wouldn't say cotton candy (which he has to pay for, making it all the sweeter), but if Cotton Candy's his answer, the close second will definitely be Cosmo!

He loves (and I mean LOVES) the video sequences of Cosmo's Quest (the dastardly minions of the BCS have stolen the Spirit of the Y and want to use it for evil purposes! Ahhh!)

Tate has a ticket as well, but regularly exercised his first right of refusal, so we've enjoyed games with Uncle Brody, Grandpa Brent, and our great friend Lanny.

Summer Things

We didn't post for most of the Summer, so here's a couple of highlights...

This spring, Cyndie's flowers showed their stuff. Blooming like champions, they were beautiful and fun to look at--kind of like Cyndie!

Dane enrolled in a music, movement, and drama class. They did lots of songs and dances... even put on a play of "Where the Wild Things Are" with the chief wild thing played by our wild thing.

He learned the Charleston, and the booty shake.

That may be a light saber, not sure exactly. But we are into Star Wars, so I'll bet Dane thought it was a Yoda, Quigon-Jinn, and Anakin (Episode II) model.

Spinning green light... power stance!

We learned that Dane will one day be a rock star. He's got it going on (look at that stance!)

(incidentally, we also learned that Bono is a "Fully Invested" Cougar fan, thanks SnarrWars for the image, you are a hero to my boys).

On the Tate front, we had our own one-man play entitled "Chin Chuckler". He spent a fair amount of the summer protesting the move, but has been doing well this fall and is integrating well into school.

You know that Visa commercial where the family goes on vacation in search of the lost smile from their teenage daughter? We have our own quest: Tate wearing his glasses... here's a shot we're not entirely sure hasn't been Photoshopped.

When the grass grows in O-Town (Omaha, not Oakland), it really grows. Sumner loved to run around in the fresh cut. It smelled so wonderful, and there were bugs jumping around... ahh, nirvana! The stained feed only lasted a couple of days (then it was time to cut the grass again!)

Our love of Star Wars carried over to the kitchen, and way beyond the obvious Princess Leia Cinnamon Buns and included such recipes as Bosq Brownies, Pit Droid Pizza, and these Galactic breadsticks:

Here's a shot of Cyndie's Guys shortly before leaving Omaha:

Back In Business: Who Wears the Pants???

Well, these OmaHecks have been in the analog world for quite some time now. The hate mail and death threats have increased to a level that makes me think that a few token posts would be appropriate and a sort of insurance policy.

here's a sample of today's Sacrament Meeting conversations:

Tate: Mom, was Joseph Smith the first person to wear pants?
Cyndie (chuckling): No.
Tate: Was Joseph Smith, Sr. the first person to wear pants?
Cyndie: No, honey. Think about George Washington. He wore pants. And the Pilgrims, they wore pants...
Tate (interrupting): Except their wives. (Big brown-eyed blinks)

Yeah, that's how it goes... a fair amount of randomness supplemented with Vulcan Logic.

For those of you who have spent time with Tate or any other Autistic children, you know the can fixate on a topic for extended periods of time.(its called perseveration). With Tate, its all about Star Wars right now. He has so many facts in his little bean, and he wants to affirm them with us ("Dad, who was the second person to die by a lightsaber in episode three?" OK, because I know that, RIGHT!!! I don't even know whether he's talking about Return of the Jedi (third movie released) or Revenge of the Sith (third episode chronologically). We have been forced to declare the Chapel "StarWars free zone". No Star Wars questions allowed. It has been difficult, especially when the Stake Presidency makes references to Jedi Mind Tricks...

In Transit

This move has put us waaaay behind in blogging.

There is a lot to do: managing a couple of households, learning a new job, acclimating to altitude and lack of humitidy.

We have received some messages expressing displeasure with our posting frequency.

I promise we'll be back and better than ever once we get a little settled. We'll even post pics of the house.

Quote of the Day - 6/16/08

There we are eating dinner when Tate looks up and asks us, "Do you want to pray to my pasta?"

Now, you might expect that we'd be used to this line of questioning, Tate being Tate and all. But it still threw us for a loop. Cyndie and I looked at each other and in unison, answered "What?!?"

Tate just looked at us and matter-of-factly said "Pray to my pasta. That's what Paganism means. "

Fortunately, parts of my Cincinnati-area upbringing have rubbed off on Tate and he prefers his pasta with chili. So when we laughed at the idea of praying to pasta, Tate offered up his beans, complete with an example: "Oh, mighty beans, ye are powerful and beany!"

Our New Addition

We are thrilled to announce that arriving this August in the Anderson home will be a little packet of joy. This is something we've waited a long time for, talked about and mulled significantly. It just hasn't been in the cards until now. No specific name yet, but under general guidelines, we'll call them "BYU football tickets" (yeah, I know, I'm awful).

Why, you might ask (and rightfully so), would a family of Omahecks be getting tickets to games played in Utah?

Is it because the home opener is against Northern Iowa and my friend and co-worker is an alum and former wide-out from NIU? No, that isn't the reason.

Is it because we are so "fully invested" that we are willing to buy tickets to support the team even though we live 1000 miles away? Nope.

OK, are we planning Friday Night Drives to Provo six times this fall? Certainly plausible, but wrong again.

We're pioneering the "Scalping Plan" to put the boys through missions and college? Uh-uh.

Scrapbooking afficianados? So not us!

We will be charging admission to our basement when we get Direct TV and can access the Cougar games, and needed a template for the tickets? Great idea... but no.

Then why, you ask.

Let us tell you...

Union Pacific has offered me a very attractive position in our SLC office. I'll still be in the Marketing & Sales group, but with a group of Utah, Idaho and Nevada customers. We are moving this summer.

It is with mixed emotions that we leave Omaha, even though the intention is to return to Omaha in a few years after gaining this valuable experience. We have come to consider this place our home, and are glad to know that, in my department at least, all roads lead back to Omaha. And that's why this blog address will remain the same.

There's more to the story (some pretty good, some pretty hard). Which we'll be glad to share at a later date.

Right now, all the energy is focused on selling the house and finding the right school for Tate in Salt Lake.

Be good,

-Omahecks

Quote of the Day

Today Dane was singing around the house and Cyndie told him that she loved to hear him sing. He smiled proudly and replied, "Thank you... I just had a little music in my throat."

Yeah, that's it!

So I decided that I needed to reassert my prowess in the kitchen. Cyndie rocks the kitchen, and loves it so much, and with our schedules, responsibilities, Church Callings, Work requirements, I cook rarely, if ever. In fact, Cyndie is reminding me that the word I am looking for may in fact be spelled P-O-W-E-R-L-E-S-S-N-E-S-S.

The idea was that I could do something with the boys, teach them a skill, spend time together, and make sure they know that food doesn't just magically appear. Not to mention that since I don't cook too much, I don't want them to get any crazy stereotypes about dads not being in the kitchen.

When Sunday arrived, I committed that this was going to be the day. To use a good Argentine phrase, we were going to make bread "sí ó sí"(literally "yes or yes" meaning no other options, roughly equivalent to American English's "come he## or high-water", edited-this being a family blog). After being in meetings all morning, having Church from 1-4, ending up on the stand during Sacrament Meeting (the Bishop and Second Counselor were away, and the First Counselor asked me to join him, making me "the substitute Bishop" according to Tate"), eating dinner, and cleaning up, I was ready.

The boys and I got the ingredients, some mixing and measuring tools, and got to work. The yeast performed remarkably. The flour mixed perfectly. The sugar and eggs blended exquisitely. It was everything I had hoped for. We were all excited until we realized it was about 7 pm and read that the directions called for letting the dough raise for 3 hours, pounding it (Tate and Dane's favorite part), splitting it, putting it in pans, and letting it raise for another 90 minutes. I did the quick math and realized that we'd be up until midnight if we followed those plans. Time to call in the reinforcements!

"Mom, we need your heelllp! Dad really screwed up this time!" the boys called out. Laughing, Cyndie sauntered in to the kitchen and proceeded to save the day. We let the dough raise until we went to bed, then let it continue to raise in the fridge overnight. Next day, she and the boys cooked it up. It baked wonderfully!

Prologue

It would seem that Cyndie was right at the beginning at this post: she can spell and and has a better vocabulary than me. But I have to tell you that last night, while Cyndie and I were out on the town, I said that I wanted to make more bread with the boys, and she confessed that when we ate the last of the bread, she was disappointed. So maybe I didn't screw up too badly.

What Happens If That Runs Out?

Tate is an avid reader and loves to learn new things. He has discovered the world of minerals, plants and resources.

Whether through lessons in school, or his own reading regimen (we truly aren't sure), he has become concerned about depleted resources and species of plants--and animals, for that matter--becoming extinct.

The "perseveration" aspect of Autism comes in to play here as Cyndie and I get to answer the same questions about non-renewable resources running out, so we can't have gas, electricity or other items he considers critical.

Daily, he includes in his prayers a plea to Father in Heaven that "non-renewable resources won't run out, and that endangered species will not become extinct." It is quite a show of faith. Recently, we were talking and I could tell he was in a bit of a funk. It's often hard to get him to open up about emotions, but I probed a little and he told me how concerned he was about non-renewable resources going away (he had asked me not to stop for gas only a few days earlier when we were out together for some one-on-one time).

I wasn't sure what more I could tell him, so I went to a higher source. I shared with him what a college professor used in a class as "The Lord's view of economics" (remember, I was an Econ major at BYU). The message comes from Doctrine & Covenants 104:13-18 and teaches us that the responsibility of those with resources have a responsibility to take care of those without. The Lord also teaches us in verse 17 that "the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare" for he "prepared all things". We talked about how we could waste and mis-use the things God has given us, but that if we take care of them, God will take care of us, and we should take care of each other. He chippered up, and though still concerned, he's pretty conviced that God will see us through. Good kid.

Great Wolf Break

As I mentioned in the last post, our boys have been on spring break for the last week. I was able to arrange my schedule and we took off for a couple of days. We drove to Kansas City and hit the Great Wolf Lodge http://www.greatwolflodge.com/. One of the greatest inventions of all time.

The wind and snow whipped outside, then there was a thunderstorm. Meanwhile, we were carelessly playing in a wonderful waterworld (and I'm not talking Kevin Costner).

What could be better than having 1000 gallons of water pound you on the head every 5 minutes? Maybe riding a river through a pitch black tube while rocketing around corners and hitting sharp drop-offs that make your heart skip a beat? For the more timid, riding on a floating donut around a lazy river. Or playing in the treehouse where every corner has a tool to splash, dump or spray someone, but beware, standing still long enough to use the tools makes you a target as well!

We had a great time together and a load of fun. We are both water logged and a bit dehydrated, but anxious for our next trip.

Opinions are like... well, everyone has one!

The other day Cyndie left me a voice mail at work, concerned over a scheduling conflict between the two elementary schools represented in our home. I can hear noise in the back ground reminding me that it is spring break and the boys are home. Cyndie tells me about the conflict and says she wants my opinion. Just then I hear the voice of a cartoon character respond with glee-and a bit of incredulity, "You want my opinion?!?!"

If I didn't live in the house, I'd have been curious at how Cyndie timed the question on a voice mail with something from Cartoon Network. But, since I do live in the house, I knew it was actually Dane. He of the cartoon voice.

Cyndie responded to Dane that she sure did want his opinion, but that right now she was leaving a message for Dad. I don't know what the rest of the message said, I was too busy laughing becasue I could hear Dane hopping away, chirping in his little animated voice, "Yipee, I have an opinion!"

We knew that, D-Max, but we are thrilled you've realized it.

God's Killer Whales

In a lame attempt to get the boys to sit still during Family Home Evening tonight, I made the threat that the next person to get off the couch was going to really "get it" and then go straight to their room.

Cyndie in her wisdom and patience with the boys, made a game of the situation. She told us the floor was dangerous, that we needed to stay on the couch or we'd be at risk from Satan's Sharks.

Dane got a little scared. Tate looked at her and said, "Well, God's Killer Whales can come and eat Satan's Sharks!"

OK, you got us there, Tate. They stayed in their places on the couch anyway. Good work Cyndie, Sharks and Killer Whales.

Cyndie and the MoTabs

Among the many great blessings of being the Primary Chorister, Cyndie has become a folk hero of sorts. All the children notice when she is gone, and the skills she employs to keep 100 pairs of eyes on her (50 at a time) for 30 minutes have achieved Legendary Status.

As she left the church yesterday, little Elizabeth's parents related that earlier that morning, they were watching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's rendition of Handel's Messiah. Elizabeth's dad pointed out conductor Mack Wilberg's prowess at leading such a large group. Elizabeth responded that "he's not as good as... as good as... hey, wasser name?" Sister Anderson, they asked. "Yeah," Elizabeth replied, "he's not as good as her!"

Cyndie was grateful for the complement.

Family Events

Waiting for Brother. The loyal fans await Tate's triumphant return from school.











And a great Family Puzzle Night. This Transformers puzzle has been framed and hangs on a D-Max wall.
I have no idea what is going on here, but it was a fun picture of Dane and me, so I included it.

Rudge Grundy Ninja

What is it about kids and making cool costumes by putting underwear on their heads? Oh, come on! Admit it, you did it too!

Easter

The boys know that Easter is really about Christ's death and resurrection, and they tell us that even though they like the candy and eggs, they are pretty sure those are "extra parts" of Easter.

Cyndie had fun making eggs with them last week. We didn't hide the eggs, but the baskets were for Saturday while Sunday brought the lesson on why Jesus' sacrifice and triumph over death are so vitally important to all of us.

I think, therefore iCar

Tate and I had a blast putting our third Pinewood Derby car together, It was a tossup between a SpongeBob SquarePants car and the iCar. In the end the iCar won out when we couldn't find the right SpongeBob parts to accessorize the car.

Special thanks to Drew and Kelli for letting us use the ShopSmith to make the required cuts, drill the new axels, and plan the widening project. (Glad the garage got cleaned out so we could get to the ShopSmith).

The iCar ran admirably and we were proud of our work. The whole family had fun and there were great treats! Depending on when next year's Derby gets scheduled, I may be making 2 cars (Dane will be in Cubs by January, and Tate won't graduate from Webelos until March). The CubMaster asked me how many I want to do so she knows when to schedule the race. I say let's go for 2!

Here are some shots of the car in all its glory:





Here's a great shot of Dave and Jackson's SpongeBob Car that inspired us. One theory of creativity states that if your source lives more than 4 hours away, it isn't really plagiarism to copy their stuff.



And finally, here is a shot that Tate took of himself on Derby day. The fact that T had the camera will also explain why there aren't any pictures posted from the actual race.