Same or Different?

Dane thought it was pretty cool to dress like Dad for Church today.


The best part of Church from 1-4 in the afternoon is watching the children who used to nap after the 11-2 Church. They fall asleep in Primary singing time. They don't want to, but they can't help it! Those chairs aren't really comfy, but they'll do in a pinch!

Dane Seven, Ben 10

Seven years ago, Dane joined us on a blustery -17 day in Minnesota. It wasn't quite that cold this week in Omaha (between -4 and +10), but Dane still Rocked the house!

Tuesday we had his family party, with a small cake and a few presents. The hit was the Vilgax Battle Ship. Ben 10 is as cool as it gets.

Saturday, 6 friends from school came over for pizza, presents, and play. Dane had the best pok-e-ball cake in the history of mankind. His friends know him well and many brought excellent Ben 10 gifts. Wildvine, Heatblast (flashlight version), Heatblast (firebird version), Four Arms (Triceratops version) and a Wildmutt (Door hanger motion sensor version).

If the previous paragraph doesn't make sense to you, don't worry. Have you ever met a child learning a foreign language and heard them rattle off sounds they know without any understanding of the context or meaning? That's what I felt while writing it. Wednesday I took Dane to the pool for some one-on-one time and he wanted to play Ben 10. I had no idea what to do... even when he told me what character I was (apparently there is a Kevin 11).

Game Boys

It was a very successful Christmas gift. Another Gameboy has increased both the harmony and the competition in our home. Mom and Dad don't know how to play any of the games.

Grin and "Bear" it!

What an accomplishment! Tate is a hard worker and has some serious Stick-to-it-ive-ness (and so does his mother!). Since entering Bear Cubs last March, he has been diligently working toward his rank advancement. This week he received the award at Pack Meeting. His leaders were quite proud of him, as were so many of his friends in attendance.

After receiving his award, he got to pin his mom.

Here are some other gems from the meeting:

Flag Ceremony
The Bear Den was in charge of the flag ceremony. The Cub who was MCing the event was a bit timid. when the boys brought the flag in, no one heard him ask the audience to stand, so Tate hollered out "Everybody stand up! Put your hands over your hearts... unless you are wearing a uniform. Then you do this (did the Cub Scout Salute.)"

Recycling And Death
The theme for the evening was "Litter to Glitter" with an emphasis on cleaning up and recycling. The Cubmaster told a story about Walt Disney's early days at Disney Land. He wanted a wonderful and clean place for people to enjoy the Magic Kingdom. One of his rules for employees was to pick up any piece of trash they came upon. "But he's dead! Walt Disney is dead!" yelled Tate. The Cubmaster acknowledged this fact and continued with the story. "But he's dead!" Tate repeated. That went on for a while. Everyone got a kick out of Tate's focus on the temporal nature of our stay on Earth.

Pillar Of Death!!!!

Those who have been to our home know about the support pillar at the bottom of the stairs in the living room. A structural imperfection, to our untrained eyes... it's nickname comes from the specter of severe bodily harm that will occur at some time during the time we live here.

The pillar's been a challenge in laying out the living room, in designing our space, and in keeping it intact. After a few mis-fires in addressing both cleanliness and structure, we came up with a strategy and a color. Dane was my super helper and we got phase 1 complete on New Year's Day.

A Capella

When I was in college at BYU, I was a fan of an a capella group Extempo. I had a tape they made "The Live Album" and we thought it was a hoot. I was thinking about them today when I was adding some music to my iPod. I took a shot at finding some songs online... I didn't have any luck downloading, but here's a video of one of their cooler songs, "Pray." It a southern spiritual/gospel homage to the Joseph Smith First Vision story.