Schneid Remarks

Teaching Depth and Complexity.

2012-02-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

Recently we had a seminar at my school about what makes someone an expert on a given topic. We discussed the theories of depth and complexity and Sandra Kaplan's 11 points that help someone become an expert on a topic. It starts as a reader or seeker looking more deeply into a text or resource...

As a reader, I already like to ponder my texts and make connections to other disciplines, so this was right up my alley. This seminar really grabbed my attention because I am already innately doing some of the things we learned about. The seminar put terms to my practices and icons and ideas to my toolbag as a teacher.

Here are her points. (Below) So before reading a book to my students I could ask, 'what are some of the different points of view (point #11: different perspectives) you hear in this story?' and it gets them thinking more deeply about the story and the characters. Here's a worksheet about it:

Or you can look more closely at the worksheet on this site:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4872391/Depth--Complexity-Icon-Chart

Anyway, I thought this lesson was really great and I am excited to incorporate it into my teaching.

One of the exercises we did in the seminar was to talk about areas where we consider ourselves to be experts of sorts. I talked about singing. What is an area where YOU think you're an expert?

Book Review: In Harm's Way

2012-02-08T15:55:00.000-08:00

While we were at a friend’s house I noticed a book on his TV stand. It turned out to be In Harm’s Way and stated that it was the history behind the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in World War II. I had heard of the story of the Indianapolis (as has anybody who paid attention during the movie Jaws) but this book went into great detail about what happened to the ship as well as the mission it fulfilled just before its sinking: the delivery of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

The quick version of what happened is that the Indianapolis was sailing alone to its next destination when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine. The book then goes into detail about the experiences of the survivors of the sinking and how they tried to survive the merciless ocean while awaiting rescue. However, the rescue would take far too long to be initiated due to bureaucratic mistakes elsewhere, which cost lives. Only about half of those who survived the sinking itself would eventually be rescued.

I don’t think I’d recommend it as a book club reading; it’s not that kind of book. It is also somewhat graphic due to its description of what happened to the sailors. However, anybody interested in historical books and/or World War II would find it a compelling read.

Happy Birthday Jordan!!!

2012-02-03T06:36:00.000-08:00

O.J:
JORD - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!Hope it's the greatest ever. I admire how you always have a plan for getting things done, and you always stay calm nomatter how much storm is swirling around you. And, you're one of the best I've seen at finding bargains, coupons, deals, etc. Cheers for the coming year.Luv, Dad

Coleen:
Happy Birthday Jordan! So hard to choose just a couple things to put on the admire list...But right now the thing I admire most is what a great job you're doing as 'Dado' The boys are so excited to see you when you get home and they're always telling me about the 'Monster' game and how you practice soccer with them in the basement. You are so kind and fun with them. And - along with Char, you're about the best bargain hunter I know! :)

Linds:
Jordan is delightfully thoughtful, kind, considerate, and fun! I love how he thinks deeply about things - it makes interesting conversation to talk with him about stuff. He is a great older brother because he is a good friend. Glücklicher Geburtstag! Love you!

Char:
I admire how you haven't filed for divorce yet.
Kidding aside, these past few months I have really appreciated the fact that you have still not lost your ability to see the humour in sometimes ridiculously frustrating situations. A laugh is never buried too far under the surface with you. You're a good one Jord.

David:
The things I like most about Jordan are that he always gives good advice and that he shows that he cares about you by putting a lot of thought into his advice. I also like that he does not pretend to know more about a subject even though he knows alot of things about many subjects.

John:
Snej is the best big brother in the world! From him letting me be his shadow until he left for college to him registering me for my classes after my mission Snej is always there to support in a non-intrusive manner.

Rachel:
Jordan is always really thoughtful about things. I really enjoy talking to him because he gives really good insights about a lot of different subjects. I think it's awesome that he is so well-traveled and knows a lot of different languages, and that he can play many musical instruments. He's a very talented guy! Love, Rach

Spencer:
I really like how Jordan keeps a level head and doesn't let his emotions overcome him even in stressful situations.

Spencer, 2; Common Cold, 1

2012-02-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

So right after our latest celebrity encounter with Mr. Drew Carey, I felt something coming on. Turned out it was a cold. Pretty nasty one, too; it's a week later and I'm still feeling the effects of it. There may be only 6 more weeks of winter according to Phil, but that's still plenty of time to get sick. Hopefully I haven't gotten Lindsay sick as well!

But we all know the best way to fight a cold, right?

Yep, goold old chicken noodle soup! Lindsay has a pretty good recipe for it and between that and Campbell's, I've had plenty this past week. I'm not sure where she got that recipe, but if you don't have it already, you should ask her for it!

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!

2012-02-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

I just read this online in the Washington Post:
At 7:25 a.m. this morning Groundhog Phil saw his shadow in the little town of Punxsutawney, Pa. According to folklore, Phil’s sighting of his own shadow means there will be 6 more weeks of winter. But just how accurate is the prognosticator of prognosticators? It depends on the source.

http://www.groundhog.org/groundhog-day/about-groundhog-day/ is the official website of Punxsutawney Phil, and perhaps not impartial, it claims the Groundhog has issued a correct forecast 100% of the time. AccuWeather's grade for the groundhog's accuracy is slightly lower, but still quite respectable.

Enjoy the weather, wherever you are :)

2011 Paris Dishes Up 1929 Hollywood

2012-01-30T17:12:00.000-08:00

At our film club meeting on Saturday we all had to come with our fave 2011 movie. The one for me? The Artist. Loved it.

I get excited about a movie with good acting and interesting camera work and a fresh take. This one has it. And a movie where there's a beautiful balance of plot (its simple and sweet, but with surprises up to the last second) characterization, setting, dialogue. And even though this one is pretty paltry on the dialogue - it's a 'silent movie' after all - and the special effects are more along Marcel Marceau than CGI and fast cars - it all came together beautifully. And it's up for best picture too. And its French.

So I say its a complete must-see.

"Our Father Below"

2012-01-30T10:14:00.000-08:00

Right now I am reading the Screwtape Letters, which I got for Christmas. I'm sure many of you are familiar with this book. It is an account of letter correspondence between two demons who work to tempt humans and lead them down to Hell. It is very funny and also very serious at the same time. Here's a quote from a chapter I read today: "It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the light and out into the Nothing...Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." How true that is. There are many scriptures that highlight that same idea. I recommend reading this book if you haven't yet!

Arches National Park

2012-01-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

I finally got to visit one of Utah's national parks! And wow. The scenery is amazing. On Saturday of MLK weekend Andrew and I went to Arches. It's about a three hour drive so we left early and got back at night. Little did we know that it was a no fee weekend so we didn't even have to pay to get in! We went on a few hikes including, of course, Delicate Arch. That is the one on the Utah license plate for those of you who don't know. Here's a picture we got in front of it. We had a really good time and now I'm motivated to see all the other national parks here!

chocolate cake

2012-01-29T18:59:00.001-08:00

So Spencer mentioned to me on Friday that it was national chocolate cake day. Whee! A few minutes earlier I had been toying with the idea of making one. Sometimes on the weekends I get in a baking mood. I was still undecided when he looked up from his computer and then I KNEW I MUST! I mean, when it's a national day... So I did. It was delicious! The key for me when I cook or bake now is to be sure to put on the delightful apron Mom made me for Christmas. It makes everything turn out just deliciously!!

Improv-a-ganza!! Drew Carey hosted!

2012-01-27T15:30:00.001-08:00

Spencer texted me yesterday afternoon to see about getting to IMPROV-A-GANZA!! He'd just read that it was in LA that night!

I met Spence there, as it turned out, because traffic was... well... LA and I didnt leave early enough and at least one person from your group had to get there way ahead for reserved seats. But once we were there, it was just delightful to enjoy some dinner together in the restaurant area...

We finished up and headed down some stairs... there was Drew Carey! He was chatting with a few people. So cool! We figured we should try to get a picture. It wasn't too hard because he was really quite nice. As we asked about the picture he's like, 'I'm Drew,' and then shook Spencer's hand, then mine as I said, 'Lindsay.' Haha... I guess you forget to introduce yourself to someone you 'know,' right? Anyway, we got the picture and Spence's eyes are even open!

After this excitement we showed our tickets and were let into the theater. We had AWESOME seats! Right up at the front! There were lots of little tables so we were close to others watching which made it funny when we were all laughing so hard.

Drew Carey came out and introduced the show. It was neat to hear more from him. He was funny and energetic and looked just like I remember from TV except he's lost weight. He talked about this and that... about how it's impossible to hide a break up these days - facebook is bad enough, but for someone like him it's like, he might as well hire a marching band!! I guess he'd broken up with his GF that day.

then he introduced the cast!

The scenes they did were absolutely HILARIOUS!!! In one, two audience members were chosen to come up and make the sound effects. In another they had a long time married couple come up and talk about their first date.

Drew Carey and an actress acted it out and the real couple had to ding a bell if they got it right and toot a horn if not. SOOOO funny, because sometimes you heard the bell from one person and the horn from the other as the scene progressed.

One of my faves was a scene of two people pretending they were on the set of a soap opera. They had to randomly pull out lines written down on slips of paper by us audience members. The punch line/end was one Spence wrote... 'We're going to Disneyland!!'

We also loved it when they did 'worst professionals.' They imitated bad scuba instructors, psychologists, and teachers too-- (with things like, 'you don't need to learn this!! you dont need to learn anything!' or 'i hate kids!') I suggested 'Forensic Accountant, ' and it was so funny to see what they came up with. Drew pretended to be blind, another actor came up and counted... 'One, Two, Three, Four dead bodies...'

Hilarious!!!!! I love that Spence found this online and we made the drive and laughed away! It was fun to chat with the audience members after too (and actors a little,) because we'd learned a little about them along the way!

Love you, Spence!

"Let's talk about sex baby..."

2012-01-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

I just found out this morning. It's so nice to know a bit more about this human being growing inside of me. I'm so excited to meet this little girl!

I am not so smart

2012-01-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

So I recently discovered this youtube clip that talks about procrastination. Then I realized it is based on a chapter from a book called "You are not so smart." I also realized that there is a blog maintained by the same author at youarenotsosmart.com

I found this to be a fascinating take on procrastination. I struggle with procrastination, but at the same time I consider myself to be a pretty driven and motivated individual. So I never bought into the fact that overcoming procrastination is just a matter of willpower and time management or buying the perfect planner. The video suggests that you have to trick yourself into not procrastinating because of present bias.

Hopefully I can apply this. I like the idea of thinking "what would the future me think of the present-day me, because I didn't start on the assignment or didn't do this certain thing?" It's a cool way of thinking and hopefully I don't go schizophrenic thinking like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ2T4-rUUcs

Home Renos

2012-01-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

We are in the middle of our home reno! We were supposed to be finished last week, but unfortunately we still have a long way to go! Below is a list of do's and don'ts I've learned over the past few months.

1. Do all your shopping before you start. My contractor kept telling me this wasn't necessary and we'd have lots of time during the renovation to find faucets, railing, stair posts, and tile at the prices in our contract. But I wish I had at least window-shopped so I understood pricing and added another 15% to our contractor's sometimes unrealistic allowances.
2. Do add an extra 30% for permits, structural engineering, and architecture fees on top of the price from your contractor.
3. Do understand that for the construction-challenged among us it's really impossible to visualize how the plan is going to actually look in real life, and once you get started and it's all in 3d in the space you have you'll want to make a few changes. Add another 20% for those.
4. Don't ever be both working full-time during your renovation. It's really going to slow down your decision-making and add 30% to your timeline. Of course, it's also going to help pay all those extra charges from 1-3!
5. Don't live there while it's happening, you are going to slow things down by another 20%. Impose upon friend or family or pay two monthly housing fees, although that can be problematic too!
6. Don't have four little boys at home during your reno. The boys will want to play in the sand piles, dirt piles, climb up the ladders, walk on the strewn about nails, trip over the lumber, and give your contractor heart attacks.
7. Do allow your contractor to develop a fondness for your boys if you happen to have them. Allow them to give him hugs every time they see him and get gum from him.
8. Do allow yourself to be super-excited about finally having a home that will allow for a person to bedroom ratio of 2:1 and provide place for guests to stay so everyone can get a good sleep! Hurray!
9. Do keep reminding yourself of all the benefits you're going to enjoy when it's finished!
10. Don't expect too much of yourself during your crazy reno. If people offer to bring you meals, accept them and any other offers for help that come your way!
Hopefully we finish at the end of next month- but I'm thinking it's probably going to be more like March. Oh boy!

ABC's to ON MY WAY HOME

2012-01-20T21:34:00.000-08:00

I was very impressed by the First Presidency Message for January by Pres. Monson. It was called 'Living the Abundant Life'. We want to achieve all we can in our mortal journey, and Pres. Monson gives a simple but very effective way to make this happen.

A - for an Attitude that's positive. We all face challenges. But far more important than the challenge itself is how we react to it. We can choose to be positive or negative. If we're positive, we're far more likely to achieve the abundant life, as well as influence others for good.

B - for Belief in yourself. This is part of the principle of agency. If we believe in ourselves and visualize ourselves succeeding, we achieve great things.

C - for Courage to make difficult choices and keep moving forward even when we face great opposition and some failure.

I would encourage all of us to take these words from the Lord's prophet and use them to evaluate our own lives. The promise is that we can have the abundant life if we follow these ABC's.

Restaurant Review: The Counter

2012-01-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

So one of my favorite places to go when you want a really good hamburger is The Counter. It's a "build your own burger" style restaurant and allows you to customize your burger with almost anything you can think of.

You can choose between beef, turkey, chicken, veggie and a location-specific type of patty for your burger. Then you choose the type of bun to put it on, one of several different kinds of cheeses (ranging from the typical hamburger cheeses to exotic ones such as goat cheese and gruyere), different toppings and sauces. Pretty much you can build whatever your taste buds are wanting at that time.

My personal favorite is the beef burger, yellow american cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, red peppers, guacamole and BBQ sauce on either a regular bun or a sourdough bun. Yum!

So I thought it was just a Los Angeles restaurant, but when I was looking up the menu, I saw they have a downtown Seattle location. So those in Seattle should go check it out too! Here's the website.

Greendale's Finest: Community

2012-01-12T20:10:00.001-08:00

So I used my amazon gift card that I received over Christmas (thanks Santa!) to go towards buying the first two seasons of Community. They arrived today! I have already seen most of the episodes and I have been watching the third season on hulu. Part of the reason why I got the DVDs is that it is not on Netflix but also because...

Community is easily my favorite comedy show currently on the air (though it is on a brief hiatus). Some of the reason why I like it so much may have to do with the bias that the lead star (the guy resting his head on his hand in the picture, Joel McHale) went to Mercer Island High School in the early 90s.

But I just love the craziness and cleverness of the show and the way they creatively reference other movies/tv shows, etc.

Most shows on TV love to play on the concept of adults behaving childishly. Arrested Development executed that concept perfectly. I never thought I would say this, but I think Community is in the same league as Arrested Development. When Arrested Development went off the air I never thought I'd see a show that could compare to it, but then Community came around. So thanks Community! I know I'll be taking you with me on airplane rides or long road trips.

Boxing Day!!!

2011-12-26T22:48:00.001-08:00

Happy Boxing Day! Even though it's a Canadian holiday and we are in Seattle, I always like to remember and observe this day if possible. This year, Mom and I got in on some Boxing Day sales! Although they don't call it Boxing Day here, they essentially celebrate it by having after- Christmas sales at the mall. Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a happy Boxing Day!

Temple Time

2011-12-25T19:19:00.000-08:00

We have had such a fun time here in Utah for Christmas. Yesterday it was delightful to take in the gorgeous Christmas lights that completely covered the trees on temple square! We were there with Spencer's parents and our neice and nephew who are 11 and 9. Our 9 year old nephew is a very active lad and he was climbing around a little and keeping things interesting by walking in a squatting position as 'mini man.' Haha... We had a nice time there sipping the hot chocolate and admiring the various nativity scenes.

My favorite moment was as we looked at the statues of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus who were on little stands atop the reflective pool in front of the temple. It was touching to see this image there in front of the temple that is such a symbol and reminder of the blessings our church brings, and of what Christ has done for us. There was a nice spirit there.

I was expecting to hear some carollers or singing. Although there was nice recorded music, we didnt hear singing so I started singing myself, but then we heard something that definitely at least ties with carollers: a carolling bag piper! Merry Christmas!

Traditions

2011-12-21T17:40:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite holiday traditions involves the watching of "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" with my friends. This tradition goes all the way back to 1994, which for some readers may not sound that impressive. However, this was started when we were in the 7th grade. At least 2 of us have gotten together every year to watch this movie, including when most of us were serving missions.

Holiday traditions are great to bring together family and friends and to establish a common link that may have been blurred by time and distance. Watching it last night with my friends brought back great memories.

Fancy New Places for Kinders

2011-12-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

The other day I brought in a deck of flash cards for my students. Now they're the new hit! These aren't 'Addition' or 'Subtraction' cards. I decided to spice things up between the phonics and math lessons, and grabbed my 'Explore Landmarks' set- I just snagged them from the Target Dollar Bin without much forethought... but my students ate them up!

These pictures and the information about the landmarks has added a spark of curiosity about the world that I love to see from these fresh minds. I adore how everything I offer them is so new and exciting because they're lil Kinders! This was a reminder of that. I wont be with this group in the new year, but it was fun teaching them while I did!

The Moai Monoliths off the coast of Chile were their faves.

.... Spence and I saw replicas of these at the Easter Island exhibit in another polynesian land last year- Hawaii!

Happy Birthday Char!!!!!

2011-12-13T19:59:00.000-08:00

Happy happy happy birthday! Char, we are so glad to have you in the family. Here are some nice things we would like to say to you :)

Grampa: Charla, Time to celebrate another birthday. I love that you like to look at the big picture and then look for deeper meanings in the big picture.

I admire your creative energy and wish you the happiest birthday ever.

Nana: I love how you can make a party from any event and from any thing you have on hand. I love your enthusiasm and your infectious energy -Even when you're running on empty it's there! And I so love your infinite supplies of quotes and sayings and philosophies for any occasion.

Happy Happy Birthday!

Ian: I love Charla's ability to be both incredibly fun and totally earnest at the same time. A very difficult balance to strike, but she manages it admirably!

Melissa: Charla, I love your sense of adventure, your deep and sincere desire to do whatever you can to love and help others and your beautiful sense of humour. I also love your blog!

Jord: You are an amazing wife and mother! Thank you so much for all the hard work that you've done since this last pregnancy and here's hoping that the next few months until the end of the pregnancy will run as smooth as ever.

Linds: What I love about Char is that she has so much joy for life. She pulls so much out of every moment and appreciates the beauty of what's around her, like music and scents for example. She shows her exuberance and love of being in the moment.

Spencer: I love Charla's enthusiasm for her family and children and how she shows this love on her blog!

Beej:

-I love how Charla is always willing to look at things in innovative ways and challenge conventional thinking.

-I love how Charla is always willing to try new things and has a very adventurous spirit, like boot camp, or living in Taiwan.

-I looove Charla's sense of humour, it's top notch (and I'm not just saying that because you laugh at my jokes or because we have similar senses of humour) well maybe I am who knows but either way great sense of humour.

Rico: What I like about Charla is that she is a great listener who genuinely cares about what you are saying. And she will also provide a cool insight of her own. Plus she is fun to be around.

Wooz: Charla, you are always really fun to talk to (I wish we could more often) and I think it's awesome how many cool things you've managed to do with your life so far. And I definitely love all your life insights! You're amazing!

I hope you manage to take some time for yourself on your special day, because you are awesome and you deserve it! Here's to a fabulous day!

We need your votes!!!

2011-12-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

Oliver's school has entered a competition to get grant money for an outdoor courtyard classroom from the Aviva Community Fund.

His school has made it into the semi-finals and they need as many votes as they can get in order to move to the next round, so if everyone could spare 2 mins to initially register and then about 30 secs for each subsequent vote then that would greatly help their cause as they are currently trailing some of the other semi-finalists in its category by only a few votes!

Anyone can vote online - you just need to register first by providing an email and a password and then after that you are allowed to vote 1X per day until the voting ends on Dec 16.

You just need to go to

http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/

First register and then after you registered you can vote by typing in his school's name (Holyrood) in the search line of the upper RH corner of the page. A picture of a dog and a school will come up but don't vote for the dog!

The name of the project is "Holyrood School Courtyard Classroom". They don't have a great photo but you can read more about their project and also vote for it once you click on the picture of it.

Thanks for your help!

Bonbons at 21!!

2011-12-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

We thought it would be fun to pool together our top 'what we like about Rach' thoughts. Here they are, with our love and wishes for a happy 21st birthday to one of the best sisters/ daughters ever!!!

One of Rach's high school friends nicknamed her "bonbons" and I've always thought that was a perfect nickname for her.
You are very fun and you make us all feel good when you are around. You've always been very determined and have a good sense of what you want to do with your life. Happy Birthday to a very fun and talented girl!
-Dad

One of the thousand things I like about you is the way you mix 'mellow' and 'determined'. Not a whole lot of people know that under your kind, calm and easy-going exterior is this amazingly focused, ambitious, uber-smart person.
Another thing I like about you is that you're not afraid to try anything! Like a hum bow at Pike Place or a black diamond ski slope or a trip to somewhere you haven't been.
And I like your smile so much.
-Mom

Rachel you are kind to the core. We love your sweet smile and gentleness. Thanks for being you!
xo
Melissa

Rachel has, as long as I've known her, a really strong sense of confidence and self-assuredness that I find admirable. I don't have a memory from this year, but her busking is a good example of that.
-Ian

What I really like about Rachel is her ability to connect with so many people. She can navigate her way through the social jungle quite easily. I also admire her for her ability to listen and to stay low-key and relaxed, but yet still showing a caring attitude.
-Rico

Woozie has always been considerate and willing to help us in many different ways, she is generous and always willing to share her talents and it is always a treat to listen to her on the violin.
-Jordan

I'm glad Rachel is my little sister because she is lots of fun. As a younger sibling she is not needy of her older sibling’s attention like I was. She is very motivated to succeed but also knows how to relax and is mindful of others in a refreshingly supportive but non-aggressive kind of way. She is a great example for all of us. Best younger sister ever!!
-Beej

I like that Rachel added Metascience to her list of interests on facebook.
-Char

Rach has such an enthusiastic spirit and great running abilities!
-Spence

I love that you’re so sociable and fun, Rach! Even as a newby here in LA last summer it was cool to see you put a party together for Canada Day. I was proud of you for being so bold, even though you could have easily made the excuse that you didn’t know many people yet. (When Rach gets an idea in her head there’s no stopping her!) It was also fabulous to hear about your adventures as a volunteer at Cedar Sinai and see you work towards your goal while balancing that with making friends. You are also so supportive of others reaching their goals. I love your spunk and fun loving spirit!
-Linds

Rach you are a treat to have in our family. Your rare ability to find fun in the run of work and achievement will continue to bring great joy and a sense of pride from yourself and all of us! Have the best birthday imaginable!

Love, us.

We're having a baby.....

2011-11-28T13:20:00.000-08:00

"Inconclusive" was the final judgment of the ultra sound tech who did my 20 week scan today. Although she reported not having seen anything that looked like I was having a boy, the legsdidn't seperate long enough for her to get a good enough look. So, we still don't know what we're having. We're going to name it Pat.

Christmas is here again (almost.)

2011-11-26T20:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas is my favorite time of year. A season where I truly do feel a stonger desire to give, a time when we remember Christ our Saviour's birth. It's such a magical time and special time and family time and fun time. People seem more friendly, the season is fresh and (a little rainy here I guess.)

Yesterday I pulled out all our decorations and Spence and I watched the good ol' classic, 'A Christmas Story.' I especially love the way this movie feels so Christmasy with the snow and the fun family dynamics and the traditions. The school scenes with Ralphie writing his 'Theme' about what he wants for Christmas especially cracked me up this year since I am working with similar aged kids.

Anyway, it's so delightful that Christmas is just a few weeks away. So I wanted to share a few Christmas-y corners (and stock pic of lights on a tree) here- these hopefully bring a smile to your face like they do to mine.

This nativity scene helps me remember the true meaning of Christmas.

THE LINK

2011-11-26T13:41:00.001-08:00

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

Movember Cont.

2011-11-26T13:38:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm jacking the family blog and spamming it with more Movember pictures. This will be the last time. Honestly I can't wait to shave this lip worm off and be done with it. I have a special character from Napoleon Dynamite per request and a Tom Selleck look alike that I think is pure gold.

I'm hoping to raise $500 right now I am at $260 so I need some help. The deadline is Nov. 30. In case I didn't already tell you I am doing it because a friend of mine who lost his grandpa to prostate cancer asked me to join his fund raising team and I agreed. The money donated goes to cancer research for men particularly prostate cancer. Movember leads to some nasty facial hair but it is for a good cause. Here is the link I hope you enjoy the photos and like I said this is the last time unless someone really wants to see another look alike picture ...... Once again thank you to all who have already donated. Follow this link and it will allow you to make a donation by credit card. Thanks guys!

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

Breaking Dawn

2011-11-23T22:55:00.000-08:00

I have been a Twilight fan from the getgo. I first heard about these books as i was walking out of a party a few years ago. A friend mentioned how a vampire's in love with a human and he wants to suck her blood... curious. But then my coworker was reading them, and couldnt put them down! Finally I thought,'ive got to check these out!' I went to the store and got a copy of the first book. Then I became the person who couldnt put them down!

So I was excited to watch the next installment with a classmate this weekend. It's getting more interesting as the stakes are raised and Bella enters deeper into the vampire world. I think the story is so fascinating! Yea, it's a simple read and there's not TOO much in terms of writing form and style, but I think there are interesting themes and emotions in these books and movies. For example, Bella and her transition to a new place and group of people, Jacob and his unrequited love for her, Edward and how he's made the most of beign a vampire and tries to be good... The situations are impossible, but the feelings taht stand with such life transitions and choices remain. I think the Jacob character is especialy interesting in this respect. He has to honor Bella's choice of husband even though it breaks his heart. Although we dont choose whether to marry a vampire, we do face loss, struggle, balance between what we want and what others want, connecting with family... and using our talents - the vampires have interesting gifts. Anyway, I thought the Twilight books were an enjoyable read and I equally enjoyed the movie.

One Year Ago

2011-11-22T21:51:00.001-08:00

So this is a few days late, but that's ok....

One year ago, I joined this great family by marrying the love of my life. It's been a great year and I've loved becoming a member of this family. I'll go ahead and play favorites (Lindsay wins, of course!) but everyone's been great and extremely welcoming. Looking forward to continue to get to know everyone (Lindsay included) and wish everyone a Happy (United States) Thanksgiving!

"Don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day."

2011-11-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

Beej, those dictator pics made me smile today - thanks. I know I'm being kind of a brat here, but if you could do a pic where you look like Kip, I promise to donate. (I think slumping your shoulders will be key to your success.)

Movember

2011-11-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

Alright I'm having some more fun with this. This is a picture I took yesterday. The stache is kinda starting to become irritating but ......... I persevere. This is the latest. I will probably post a couple others as well.

I've noticed that most of the more memorable dictators have had some sort of stache which is the inspiration for this photo. Coming up I hope to do an excellent Tom Selleck impersonation.

I've been lucky to raise $220 and I have a personal goal of $500. Thank you Mom and Dad, Bonnie and Bob, Grandma Schneider and Woozie for your donations. If you haven't donated yet and would like to here is the link

http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/

I hope you can even if it's only a few dollars. I'm having too much fun with this so sadly there will be more pictures to follow. I've also submitted these photos to Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro to see if they would take me on as their apprentice and then seize power once they're gone ....... I'll keep you posted on what they say.

Movember

2011-11-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

Staches have a treasured history in our family. Dad sported one for many years. The day he shaved it off around 1994 or so it was like a part of the family died. 5 year old Woozie Schnitzel was inconsolable she cried and cried and demanded to know what this strange clean shaven man had done with her father. The crying went on for hours and since that day the Schneider men have generally refrained from rocking the stache on the upper lip ............... until now!

So each year for the month of November some men grow moustaches. It began in Australia about 10 years ago as an effort to raise money for men's health issues. Some do it for fun and others do it to raise funds. This year me and a group of friends are doing it to raise funds. Some of you have asked me about the lip worm creeping along my upper lip so now you know, I'm not doing it to be stylish (although that is certainly a beneficial byproduct, see picture above) I'm part of a movember fundraising team.

The funds are used for research mainly for prostate and testicular cancer but also for other men's health issues, such as depression which is on the rise among young men. The stats are pretty disconcerting 1 in 7 men get prostate cancer and 1 in 28 die from it. 60+ year old men have the greatest risk.

It's not very big in the States but in Canada it's pretty popular with lots of radio DJ's, hockey players and other celebrities participating. Now if you see a non-police officer or non-airline pilot with a stache you now why ...... they may be doing a Tom Sellick impersonation (see picture above) or making their best attempts at stlying but more likely they are participating in Movember. Especially if they appear normal in every other regard ie) they aren't a single dude who drives a mini van with tinted windows, they don't have long greasy hair, they don't play video games for days at a time and forget to shave their face etc.

Last year a little over $22 million was raised worldwide. Right now our team is at $1,550 and we're hoping to get to at least $3,000 by the end of the month. Please donate here's the link http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2548960/ for my mospace page. I will provide pictures of the luscious stache, push broom, savour flavour, mo whatever you want to call it once I have something that I'm comfortable going cyber with (probably a couple of days). But I won't post any pictures unless there is at least $20 donated to my mospace page so hopefully somebody puts in at least $10 (Haha I'm donating $10 right now so that means somebody else needs to donate at least another $10, even if you only want to donate $1 that's cool). I'm pretty sure the more money that goes to my mospace page the faster my moustache will grow too so maybe I can get one that rivals Dad's stache from the early 90s! Don't worry wooz my stache is pretty pathetic compared to Dad's so I'm pretty sure you will be able to recognize me!

Quarters and States

2011-11-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

So back when I was in high school in 1999, the US Mint decided to start releasing quarters with a design for each state on the back. This intrigued me at the time, so for Christmas I got a map of the US with a spot to put each quarter as it came out. They were only coming out 5 per year, so it was going to take some time to collect them all. But collect them I did:

This wasn't enough for me though. When I first started, I wanted to collect an entire roll (40 quarters, or $10) per state. I quickly realized that this would take forever, so I downsized my goal to collect one roll per year, or 8 per state. I also wanted to collect an entire roll of the bicentennial design that came out in 1976. Over the past few days, I finished my goal:

So what's next? Well, they're continuing the program using US Territories, then National Parks, so my collecting days will continue. By luck of the draw, when we went to get quarters for laundry a few days ago, I got an entire roll of the Gettysburg National Park, allowing me to complete that particular one very quickly. But it's nice to be finished with the initial goal.

Halloweekend!

2011-10-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here at BYU people like make a big deal out of Halloween, and generally people have celebrations the whole weekend before Halloween. Both Rico and I were fortunate enough to go to one such celebration, a dance party hosted in part by Rico's roommate Kevin. Here's a picture of us afterwards! I was an 80's Barbie and Rico was the sheriff from the show "Walking Dead," he could probably tell you more about it. Sydney was a medieval princess if you can't guess! Anyway, it was a lot of fun dressing up. Happy Halloween, hope you all have a fabulously scary day tomorrow!

Trunk or Treat

2011-10-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Dad and I are on Mercer Island right now and last night was one of our favorite nights of the year - the famous MI Ward Trunk or Treat Party. It's where the whole ward shows up in costume and eats Halloween food and plays games and then goes outside to pass out candies from their decorated car trunks to all the little trick or treaters.

For Halloween junkies like myself it's a night to look forward to. One year John went as Darth Maul and Rico as the young Obi-Wan. They tried to talk Rach into going as Princess Amidala but she refused and went as a hippie instead. She regrets that decision to this day :) BTW - all the little kids were deathly afraid of Darth Maul so they had a hard time taking candy from him. So John and Rico had to eat it all. And the year Rico went as 'Rico' was another very memorable Trunk or Treat.

For the last - I swear - TEN YEARS!! - I've either been in charge of this fabulous evening of entertainment or at least a major part of it. It's always an unbelievable amount of work organizing food, games, decorations publicity, etc for a party for 100. So it felt sooo good last night showing up with only one little assignment - and that was to bring our big black plastic cauldron to use as a punch bowl. It was a really relaxing evening!

I'm Blind! I'm Deaf! I Wanna be a Ref!

2011-10-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

Back in high school I was a referee for the Murray Parks and Recreation soccer leagues. I also refereed flag football. I continued to do so in college, becoming a referee supervisor later on. Refereeing is always something I've enjoyed, even if that seems a bit masochistic. Making sure the game is played completely fair is something I like doing, and if that means taking a couple of boos from the crowd from what they perceive is a bad call, so be it.

Julian and Caleb have started playing soccer for AYSO. One of the requirements for each team is that they help provide volunteer referees for the games. At Ian's suggestion, I decided to get back into the refereeing game; not only for Julian and Caleb, but at the higher levels as well.

Here's me in my referee uniform. Lindsay says I look handsome. You be the judge, but remember that her opinion holds much more weight in my mind ;)

Here's me in action. Julian's admiring my amazing skills here too!

FYI, the post title is a soccer chant when a call goes against the home team.

Pumkin Craft!

2011-10-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

With Pumpkin time upon us I couldnt resist sharing this way cool craft that's fun for any age. My lead teacher taught this with our 2nd graders and I thought it looked so fun that I made one too! And when that wasn't enough, I also tried it with my Kinders in the afternoon. It is so fun!

Here's a link to copy into your browser for clear instructions. It talks about symetrical faces in general though-
http://www.mathwire.com/geometry/symmetricfaces.pdf

So I posted this pic (above) of what it can look like as a pumpkin! You can do any shape for the whole pumpkin and the eyes, mouth and nose!

Autumn Golf

2011-10-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Golf in October is bonus in Edmonton, unlike some other areas of the world. We have had an exceptionally nice September and October this year.

I guess this is payback for a brutal spring and summer. The days have been sunny, the leaves have been spectacular, and even the golf swing has been above average.

Looks like we'll just keep playing until the snow flies!

Love to all,

Gramps

Anne with an e

2011-10-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

I have been re-reading my beloved Anne of Green Gables Books which I have held onto since I was a kid. One reason (I rarely re-read books,) is because I was also rewatching the Anne of Green Gables TV series which has conveniently been recorded on our direct TV. I wanted to see how true the series hold to the books. I fount that although the series is great overall, they do mix up a few things compared to the actual story- for example, in the fourth book they combine three characters into one and rearrange the chronology, not to mention they change key elements of the plot entirely, like the way Gilbert and Anne get engaged (third book)- But overall I dont have many complaints. I cant blame them for avoiding introducing too many characters. The crux of the story is told well (that Anne is an orphan but finally gets a loving home,) that Matthew and Marilla are the kindest people, and that Anne is not too bad herself. The acting is also quite good.

As for the books, they still beat out the series- which is my usual vote: the book over the movie. They can just fit in so much more description and the thoughts the characters have. I love these books. I love Anne's character. She's so colorful -I love her obsession with puffed sleeves, and she has such a huge heart. The stories are littered with times when she helps others regardless of the huge sacrifices required. I love it when she gives a friend a day off from watching her invalid Mother, loans her a dress and everything, allowing her to attend a friend's anniversary celebration...

There's one quote that I like and that reminded me of the discussion we had at our recent book club. We were talking about Aron Ralston- the guy who amputated his arm to get out of a rock and a hard place- the book '127 Hours'- he sorta let his passion for hiking run wild- without taking precautions, and found himself stuck in a tough predicament. Anne says to her daughter in the last book, 'my dear foolish dear, an imagination is a wonderful thing to have. But like every gift we must possess it and not let it possess us.' Anyway, there's Anne. A nice, fun, and calming read, even better than the TV series.

Death by Chocolate

2011-10-17T21:20:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to share the ridiculous chocolate cake I made last night. I promised some people in my ward and someone that I work with that I would make this cake I found for them. It was really fun to make! One piece pretty much had you knocked out by too much richness though! The fun thing about it is that you can kind of do whatever you want to make it as chocolatey as possible. Linds, I bet you especially would like this cake!
http://artofdessert.blogspot.com/2011/10/chocolate-wasted-cake.html Here's the link to the recipe if any of you are so inclined to try it.

CHINA

2011-10-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

China is going down as one of our best trips ever - still trying to process all that was there - thousands of years of culture and history and people all in two weeks. Here's just a sample. I'd be more than happy to show you more where these came from!

Near Beijing - the Great Wall - you can hike on it or right beside it for 1500 miles.

Tianamen Square - just outside the Forbidden City. There weren't any signs forbidding photos, (unless they were in Chinese?) but maybe this guard was contemplating why there weren't.

The skyline in Shanghai - OJ's favorite place.
Thousands of warriors in Xi'an. When he was only thirteen years old the emperor ordered them made for his tomb. That's planning ahead. It took about 70,000 craftsmen several decades to create them. Each is life size and unique.
6:30 AM In Hangzhou on the banks of West Lake. I thought this was a fabulous way to start off your morning - a little tai chi by the water with all your friends.

The Lijiang River cruise with its beautiful and unique mountain range was a highlight for us.

Our group stopped in Hong Kong for a couple days on the way home and in lieu of little grandsons, there just happened to be two other mouseketeers in the group and this is where we ended up :)

It goes without saying that our first choice would have been to have each of you as travel companions but this group of friends was wonderful too. We feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see and learn so much of such an amazing country.

I Speak No English - Kids In The Hall

2011-09-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when life is tough, and smiles aren't easy - sometimes, comedy shows help.

Kids in the Hall - Potato Salad

2011-09-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

I've always been puzzled by this skit. Puzzled, yet strangely amused at the same time.

Books Books Books

2011-09-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

One thing I've started dabbling in this year is handmade books. No reason to get excited yet, I've only made 2 or 3 and very low key small scale types at that, but it has been fun to try something new! I wanted to post about it so that I have incentive to follow up somewhere with future attempts. My love for scrapbooking, cool prints, and journaling is why 'How to Make Books,' caught my eye at the library.

I have always loved the notebook section of any place, particularly Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.

Here are the fruits of my first few dabblings: Picture one is a paper book with fabric slip cover... I wanted to compile my nice notes from my bridal brunch!

The second and third 'books' are paper cover books, the smaller one is done by folding the paper a certain way into 8 sections, one cut, and adjusting the folds to make pages with one sheet of paper and no staples.

I think I will go put some kind of book together now!

Planetarium!

2011-09-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

Little known fact: I love astronomy. I am fascinated the universe! Last week I finally got the chance to go to a planetarium show at the Eyring building on campus. The first thing we saw was a video about some facts of the universe. Here's a cool fact I remember: a pinpoint size amount of matter in a neutron star (which is incredibly dense) weighs as much as the Empire State building! So crazy. After that video we just got to watch cool light show videos that were synched to music and made us really dizzy. So it was a cool experience. Hopefully I can squeeze in an astronomy class somewhere to expand my knowledge even more!

Pain heals...

2011-09-25T17:48:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I was playing in our multi-stake flag football league and having a lot of fun. Then, just before halftime, that changed. I was playing center and my job was to block the incoming rushers, then go out for a pass and be open in case the quarterback couldn't find anyone else open. He threw it to me and off I ran.

I dodged the 1st defender with a spin move (spinning makes it really hard for the defender to pull your flag), made the second guy miss by cutting back, then came the next defender. I went for the spin move again, but we bumped heads or something and down I went. I put my hand to my eyebrow and it came back with blood on it. That, combined with the pain, led me to think that something went wrong with that spin move.

As it turns out, when we collided, my glasses got pushed up and the top of the frame cut into my face between the eye and the eyebrow. Needless to say, I was done playing. Off I went to the Urgent Care facility (kinda between the doctors office and the ER since it was a Saturday) and they patched me right up. They used medical superglue to close the cut (it wasn't bleeding anymore) and sent me on my way. Though the joke is that we should've had the Elder's Quorum do it since it was just superglue.

I have a picture of what it looked like, but seeing this is a family blog I won't post it. If you're interested, I'll email it to you. Lindsay says it looks like Halloween makeup, except it's real. Be careful when you're out and about, that's for sure.

Mt. Timpanogos

2011-09-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

This summer Rico and I had the opportunity to try to summit Timpanogos. Sadly the unusually high amount of snow still on top of the mountain in July did not permit us to reach the top. Timpa is still definitely on the hit list because it was beautiful and I was amazed at how close and accessible it was to get there. We had to take a detour of the trail and go up a rock chute to try to get to the top, finally we realized that there was going to be no chance to get to the top. Rico's adventurism and desire to get to the top was a great asset. I know at first he was worried he'd be too out of shape but he did great even when we got into a few dicey spots with rocks sliding down on us and exposed, slippery patches where we almost fell down hard.

Rather than try to push to the top and risk getting caught in the dark or freezing our feet off in the snow drifts we would have had to push through Rico and I decided to go down and hit Chipotles. I really hate it when I have to leave a hike unfinished but it is always the right decision to play it safe.

The trip to Utah was great it was fun seeing Woozie, Sydney and Rico and meet some of their friends. I can see why Utah would be a great place to live if only for the outdoor activities that you can do there. And I'll be back for Timpo ....... and if Rico and Woozie are still there I'll for sure see them too.

2011-09-14T14:21:00.001-07:00

Last First Day of School?

2011-09-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

I think I just had my last first day of school. I think that no matter where you are or what level of education you are enrolled in it is always a little bit of a magic moment. I notice that girls usually look their best on the 1st day of school (it only goes downhill as the pressures of assignments and finals slowly seem to sap their beauty or maybe they just get lazy and start putting on less make up ..... uhmm probably the later rather than the former) and there is an energy and buzz in the air. There's lots of free stuff on campus and people are more willing to engage in conversation.

It was very sad that I couldn't enjoy the moment because I had a 9am class and I was running late. But well I was trying to cover the 35min walk in about 20min I was thinking about one of my favorite family memories when there were a few years when all the kids were together for their blessings before school and Melissa would go first then Jordan and so forth all the way down to Woozie. I didn't really realize the significance of that moment now that we are all spread out and rarely able to get all together but I remember thinking how I had so many people that were looking out for me and knowing there really wasn't any need to be worried about anything. I also remember the suckiness of thinking about school again, as the not so enthusiastic first day photos that Mom always insisted taking will attest too, but now that my last first day, for Grade 19, has come and gone it was a very nostalgic moment. I hope the boys have enjoyed their 1st first day of school.

Football!

2011-09-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

So as you may or may not know, I am a bit of a college football fan. Last weekend, my team (the University of Utah) was playing down here in LA against the USC Trojans. My boss was nice enough to get Lindsay and I tickets to the game, and I was excited to take her to her first Ute game!

Cameron (my friend that I've known since kindergarten) came down from Salt Lake to join in the festivities. Scott (another of "The Brethren") lives down here in LA and went to USC, so he joined us as well:

We had decent seats and were treated to a very exciting game!

Even though the final score wasn't what we'd hoped (Utah lost, though it took several hours and a officials conference to determine the final score; I can fill you in on the specifics if you want) we still had a lot of fun at the game.

And since it's Rivalry Week, let me leave you with the advice of President Monson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EYK6J-XuOs&feature=related

Blackberry Season

2011-09-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

YYYYUMMMMMM!!!

Blackberry season is one of the highlights of the year here on MI. It has become a

family tradition to make blackberry cobbler and freeze these yummy treats for the

coming winter. I guess there must have been a bear in our family tree. This year was

especially good, and we had John, Rachel, and David helping us out.

Wish you were here.

Love, Gramps

COUSIN CAMP 2011

2011-09-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

The three of the best little boys in the world spent time with Nana and Gramps in Seattle a couple weeks ago. If you haven't heard what we were up to, these photos give you a sample. We kept crazy busy at the zoo, the aquarium, camping on the Snoqualmie River, making cookies and hanging out - literally - on our neighbor's zip line. Some of the best times were watching the boys just be with each other. There's a very exuberant dynamic that plays out between them.

Each is so different and yet so connected to the people and the world around them. We sure loved them and we loved the time they spent with us.

Cousin camp was one of the highlights of my summer.

Disneyland fun!!

2011-09-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

Chrishy on the Carousel at Disneyland!

'cause evil's not my cup of tea

2011-08-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite songs. Ever hear that evil voice in your head that tells you to give up, or that you're "worthless and weak"? When I hear this song I don't hear the anti-establishment message it was intended as. I hear it in my own little world as stickin' it to evil personified. Because sometimes don't you just kinda feel like looking evil straight in the eye and saying "hey you jerk, I'm getting tired of you hanging around. You don't belong here - SO SCRAM, beat it - I don't have to listen to you anymore "I'm right and I'm free, I'll fight and you'll see."

Maestro of the Movies

2011-08-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Jaws.

Indiana Jones.

Harry Potter.

Star Wars.

What do all these movies have in common? They all have scores written by John Williams.

A few months ago, Lindsay and I were looking at the Hollywood Bowl schedule to see if there was a concert available that we would want to go to. I saw that John Williams would be playing and said, "We are going!" She was all for it, and we bought tickets right then and there.

However, we realized a few hours later that the drama performance at Manchester Academy that Lindsay was in charge of was that night as well! Fortunately, they ended up rescheduling that, so off to the Hollywood Bowl we went!

The first act was kind of a compilation of movie clips set to original music, not anything specific to a movie. James Taylor was there as a narrator for a Faulkner story set to music, then played one of his own songs on guitar, which was pretty cool too.

The second act was even better. Favorites such as the Harry Potter theme, the Titanic theme and of course, Star Wars. I made a video, but it was too big to upload to the blog so here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRobHEOubfk

Tennis

2011-08-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

So one of my new hobbies that I've started over the past few years is playing tennis. I love tennis because it's good exercise and it's a lot of fun. I also love how it is an elitist sport which is also free (at least in the summer anyways). Along with golf it is probably the only other sport that uppity-ups appreciate and play on a consistent basis. I prefer tennis not only because it's free but also because it's better exercise and you don't have to wear silly pants or shirts to play. It's the elitist sport for the common man. There is now a little network of about 4 or 5 friends that I'll play tennis with to the point that I'm usually playing at least once a week. It definitely makes the summer fun.

I've also become somewhat of a fan. It's definitely hard to sit through a 4 hour match sometimes but I've definitely got caught up in the Rafa-Roger rivalry. A couple of times I've gotten up very early to see them play for the finals at the Australian Open and I have to admit that tennis is one of my favorite sports to watch when Roger is playing. One of my dreams is to see Roger Federer play live at the US Open in New York which probably means I will have to go there next year around this time because he will likely retire in fact this US Open may be his last.

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

2011-08-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

This year Lindsay hits a big milestone in age as she will be turning 30. Lindsay is a great big sister. She is always cheerful and supportive. She is also willing to help out with tasks whether they be big or small. She is also willing to help until the task is done which is another great thing. I’ve always been amazed by Lindsay’s creativity and her ability to make cool things. I am lucky to have a supportive and kind sister. It’s great having Lindsay as a birthday buddy and I hope she has a great birthday and a great upcoming year!

1. How old are you turning this year? 30!

2. What is your favorite food? Chocolate. It should be it's own food group.

3. What is your most frequently purchased grocery item? Lettuce. Roommates of the past used to joke that I was like a rabbit. The trend continues. Spencer like salad too.

4. What is your bedtime routine like? I brush my teeth, wash my face, say prayers with Spence and give him a kiss. Alternately, I wash my face then brush my teeth then give Spence a kiss then say prayers.

5. What are three things you absolutely have to do every day? Get out of bed, move around, read scriptures.

6. What do you listen to most (artist, radio station/program, podcast)? 80's music channel on our sweet TV.

7. What’s one skill you wish you had? I would love to be better at sewing clothes

8. What skill are you most proud of? I can make something from 'nothing.' Using materials we already have, I can make cards, decorate, bake, and create art.

9. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go? Italy

10. What is your favorite place you’ve been? Slovenia

11. What are three of your favorite books? The Help, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Anne of Green Gables

12. If you had to buy any magazine what would it be? Vogue to get hair style ideas

13. What is one thing that gets on your nerves? When people burp and dont say excuse me. I work with kids.

14. What is your favorite sport to watch or play? Hockey- to watch or play. Soccer to watch (I can cuddle with Spence while he watches,) and it's also fun to play!

15. What do you love to do when you have nothing to do? Do a little home decorating project/ tweaking, read from my Slovenian Book of Mormon, write a letter

16. What are three things you wish you had? A classroom of my own (during the school year not just summer school) an infinite supply of chocolate, more time to DisSPENCE with Spence

17. What is your favorite treat? brownie a la mode

18. What are a few things you hope to accomplish or learn this year? Continue developing my relationship with Spencer

19. What are your favorite things to watch (tv show/movie)? Office, Simpsons, Parks and Rec

20. What are your three most visited websites (besides facebook/email)? Blogs, Youtube, news sites (yahoo, msn, new york times)

James Cameron and Tim Burton x2

2011-08-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

Last night Spence and I went to our old ward's FILM FESTIVAL!

It was a blast! They always go all out and it was fun to reunite with some of our old friends. The theme this year was 'James Cameron,' and EPIC movies, so there were neat displays around the gym for Avatar, Terminator, and Titanic.

We loved crashing this singles event with a few other married couple friends of ours.

The films that were submitted were great!

There was a submission by our friends from the Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, some love stories, life stories, documentaries, and 'foreign films' (one in french,) 'The Most Interesting Mormon in the world-' 2 spoofs of the 'Most interesting Man in the World' Dos Equis commercials were a hit.

The movie makers were creative as always- there was one, 'a fist full of love,' that reminded me of Spencer's and mine last year- with a great training montage.) Way to set a trend Spence!

Here we are tearing up the place!

The AVATAR set:

Help!!

Beej and Rach will remember last year's Film Fest theme- Tim Burton. It was fun to reminisce with Spence on that event, before we were engaged!

On the Tim Burton theme, when Mom was in town this last week we went to the LACMA (Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art) Tim Burton Exhibit! I've been seeing the ads around so it was really fun to go see this with Mom!
They talked about his developing style -
-he used creature-like bodies and
-body modification
in his art
-we saw an old writing piece from his High School class and doodles on newspapers!

We also saw some hilarious sketches he did, taking some phrases literally and making other funny scenarios with different made up characters.

It was really great to check this out with Mom- it was fun that she was game! Thanks for the fun outing, Mom!

And that concludes my post.

Happy Birthday David!

2011-08-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

Wish we could be together again this year to wish you HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICO!

Miss you! and miss your under-the-radar humor and your creative opinions and ideas and your recollection of almost any date/family event ever, and your killer work ethic with anything you do :)

Love you tons!

1. How old are you turning this year? 24

2. What is your favorite food? Chicken Wings (family recipe version)

3. What is your most frequently purchased grocery item? spaghetti

4. What is your bedtime routine like? brush my teeth, read some news, read scriptures, bed

5. What are three things you absolutely have to do every day? check email, listen to some music, read sports/entertainment news

6. What do you listen to most (artist, radio station/program, podcast)? arcade fire

7. What’s one skill you wish you had? Handy man skills

8. What skill are you most proud of? Retaining information

9. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go? Germany

10. What is your favorite place you’ve been? Chile

11. What are three of your favorite books? Lord of the rings trilogy, Harry Potter series (except book 5), Zeitoun

12. If you had to buy any magazine what would it be? Entertainment Weekly

13. What is one thing that gets on your nerves? When people I don't know sit right next to me in a lecture hall when the whole row has empty seats

14. What is your favorite sport to watch or play? Basketball

15. What do you love to do when you have nothing to do? Surf the web

16. What are three things you wish you had? better musical skills, a job after college, better time management

17. What is your favorite treat? Twix

18. What are a few things you hope to accomplish or learn this year? Graduate, read more books, make more friends

19. What are your favorite things to watch (tv show/movie)? Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, Arrested Development, 30 rock, Mad men

20. What are your three most visited websites (besides facebook/email)? ESPN, wikipedia, youtube

Plugging in!

2011-08-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to get one for a while now, so a few days ago, I finally just went ahead and ordered.... an electric violin! This picture is actually the exact one I got. It's black and has a weird cutout on the side and it's awesome! It was a very reasonable price (maybe too reasonable) so I was a little worried about how well it would actually work, but it works great. I plugged it into my friend's extra amp and we had a grand old time jamming together, him on the electric guitar and me on the electric violin. We hope to start a band of some sort which would be great fun!

There's no place like home.

2011-08-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's a small bungalow on a very quiet, nicely treed street. Less than a half a block away is a huge field with two playgrounds, a spray park, a little climbing wall and two hockey rinks - one outdoor and one indoor. It feels perfect for us. I came here a few times before we moved everyone in to do some cleaning and setting up and it felt kind of weird to be living in someone else's space. It didn't feel like home until we were all in here together - with the boys running all over the place, having our first meal here as a family - that's what really makes a home - home. Here are some pictures. http://comfree.com/home-for-sale-fulton-place-alberta-250422

We've spent a lot of time taking off wallpaper and painting in the basement and in one of the bedrooms. I've also spent hours painting the stone fireplace in the basement white. It's been kind of fun to have a place of our own again.

Uninvited Guests

2011-08-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Summer is here in northern Alberta, along with millions of uninvited guests, flying, buzzing, biting, drawing blood, and generally afflicting and tormenting.

A very rainy spring left many pools of standing water which are a perfect breeding ground for, you guessed it, MOSQUITOES. The local researchers tell us that we have at least 36 different species of these little pests, and some of them are attracted to the CO2 that we exhale, and some of them use infrared to target their victims. Both methods seems to be working well, as this is the worst mosquito season here in 30 years. Part of the reason is that efforts to

spray them have been hampered by high winds, although we suspect that this is just the official excuse to cover local government mismanagement...

Bug spray has been flying off the shelves and some are even hoping for an early frost to kill them. As the weather gets warmer and drier, the numbers are expected to decrease. We're getting a small taste of what the Egyptians must have felt when Moses unleashed the plagues on them. It's a great opportunity for character building.

Love and swats to all,

Gramps

Stay to the End...

2011-07-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

As you've probably realized by now, I'm a pretty big sports fan. While watching a game live, one of my mantras is "Stay until the end." In LA, a lot of people tend to leave games early to try to beat the traffic back, but miss out on last-second heroics and other cool stuff.

We just had "Mormon Night" at Dodger Stadium (which happens every year) and this was another example of why you want to stay until the end. Not only did we get to see a grand-slam home run (a home run with the bases loaded), but after the game came this:

And this:

Yes, fireworks! Fireworks are pretty cool, true. But more impressive was where we got to see the fireworks from:

Left field. Yep, they let us onto the field to watch the fireworks. For those of you reading the Ferrero blog (which you should be doing, hint hint!) this marks the second time in a month that I have been on the field at a pro sports stadium, which is definitely a record. And it's all because we stayed until the end.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-07-24T22:48:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom! I can't think of anyone more deserving of a wonderful day and a wonderful year. Mom is always available to help whenever anyone of her kids especially needs it, even if she has to drop everything to provide the requested aid. It seems like she's always proof reading a paper, giving a pep talk, helping someone move or get settled in somewhere or thinking of ways to strengthen our family. What would we do without her? I know we'd all be a very sorry lot indeed. Happy Birthday Mom! We love you sooo much-

1. How old are you turning this year? About 63. That way I get lots of compliments on how well I look:)

2. What is your favorite food? Greek yogurt - honey flavor

3. What is your most frequently purchased grocery item? The same Greek yogurt!

4. What is your bedtime routine like: I keep thinking I need a routine. I'm working on that.

5. What are three things you absolutely have to do every day? Yoga workout from an old and free McDonalds DVD, memorize a seminary scripture mastery, take all my vitamins

6. What do you listen to most (artist, radio station/program, podcast)? The most? Shakespeare plays on my Iphone

7. What’s one skill you wish you had? I wish I could speak another language. Anyone would do.

8. What skill are you most proud of? Organizing and directing programs, events, parties, wedding receptions, anything festive. Also drama productions.

9. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go? Patagonia

10. What is your favorite place you’ve been? The Acropolis in Athens. Back in 1971 you could stroll freely around the site.

11. What are three of your favorite books? Anne of Green Gables, Miss Rumphuis, the New Testament

12. If you had to buy any magazine what would it be? A home design/decorating mag

13. What is one thing that gets on your nerves? Whining and complaining

14. What is your favorite sport to watch or play? If hiking is a sport then I like to play hiking. If not, then tennis. I don't watch any TV sports but love watching a live hockey game/cross country meet/soccer practice that any of the kids/grandkids are in.

15. What do you love to do when you have nothing to do? Sit down and play the piano

16. What are three things you wish you had? A new pair of glasses (or just 20/20 vision), kids and grandkids who lived closer, and other than that I honestly can't think of anything

17. What is your favorite treat? Karamel Sutra from B and J and ginger chocolate from Oh Chocolate! on MI

18. What are a few things you hope to accomplish or learn this year? Travel to China with OJ, another road trip with OJ, learn conversational French, organize all the family photos - 35 years worth...I'm getting there! And plan a Young family reunion.

19. What are your favorite things to watch (tv show/movie)? Don't watch any TV, but will make a point of seeing as many historical or period drama series or movies as possible.

20. What are your three most visited websites (besides facebook/email). my bank websites, lds.org, schneidremarks

Trip to the Dakotas

2011-07-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Seeing the Dakotas has been on my bucket list forever so when OJ and I got to go last month it was everything I expected and more - It was an inspiring trip on many levels. I've always been intrigued by the name of the city I was born: Man-dan, which is named after a very peaceful Indian tribe. The name means 'river dweller' - which must be one of the reasons I'm excited to be living close to the North Saskatchewan River again :)

A highlight of the trip was visiting two similar, yet also very different South Dakota monuments. One was the iconic Mt Rushmore, and the other was one that most people don't know about - Crazy Horse Memorial. Both monuments are carved in granite, and are meant to be awe-inspiring works of art. One is finished and the other is a work in progress. One to 'celebrate the nation of America;, the other to 'celebrate the past glory of the native Americans'.

Both are the result of the visions of two talented sculptors who each had a grandiose vision of what they wanted to achieve - namely to build a monument for the ages that would inspire and teach.

I was taken aback by how moved I was by their stories. They each had to endure unending challenges, including dangerous working conditions, lack of funding, criticism, illness. But each of them overcame all the challenges to build monuments to people who inspired them, which in turn would inspire people from all over the world. It was an amazing experience.

Storytime, Final Chapter

2011-07-15T18:47:00.001-07:00

“That’s what your father told everyone after ‘The Incident’ because he didn’t want anybody to know the truth” said Martella, without a trace of her accent.

“Before I ask about that, what happened to your Russian accent?” asked Mikey.

“For some reason, Koko only understands commands when someone speaks with a heavy accent. Watch! Koko, open the door.”

Koko just stands there.

“Koko, open zee doorrrrr,” asked Martella with her heavy accent. Koko went to the door, opened it and ambled outside to stand guard in case more bad guys showed up.

“Ok, what truth were you talking about?”

“That becoming stuck in a timeloop is a fate worse than death. You see, after the New Year’s party in 1940 where your grandfather first confided in me the secrets of the green potion just after we got married, I became obsessed with using it. However, during my first attempt, I drank too much and became lost in time. I would randomly be flung to anywhere at any time. I saw the pyramids being constructed, King Arthur’s court, some guy surfing a tsunami wave with a dynamite vest near Sydney, even my own birth. I could never control it though.”

“Wow, that sounds both great and horrible. How did you escape the time loop?” Mikey inquired.

“When your grandfather gave you the bottle, the willing transfer of the potion broke the time loop. I knew instantly that was what happened and I tried to get here in time to say goodbye to him, but since he was so old, once he gave up custody of the potion, he only had minutes left. I managed to get here just in time to say my goodbyes to him.”

“I’m glad you did, Grandma. But what do I do now?”

“That’s up to you, Mikey. I’m too old for more time-traveling adventures, and I certainly don’t want to risk getting stuck in another loop. You’re now the guardian of the potion. Keep it safe and enjoy!”

Mikey smiled at his newly-found grandmother. “I’m done time-traveling for now as well. But who knows what the future may hold for me? Or the past, for that matter. Let’s just enjoy the present while you’re still here.”

Story time chapter 9

2011-07-05T23:38:00.000-07:00

"Rawrrr!" roared the gorilla creature as he pounced on the two goons, bowling them over. Their sausage-like fingers released Mikey and he was able to break away and clutch the bottle of potion closer to himself, protecting it from further harm. He was in luck though, as both of the hefty men seemed to be knocked out cold. But the gorilla wasn't done. He rounded on Mikey next, his snarling grin creeping closer and closer to Mikey's small frame.
"Koko, zat is eenough!" cried a voice in heavily accented English. The source soon followed as Martella burst into the room, her tennis racket held aggressively in front of her. The gorilla immediately stopped in his tracks, cowering submissively in front of the tiny old woman.
"Grandma?!" exclaimed Mikey incredulously. "Is that really you? I thought you were dead!"

Seattle Trip

2011-07-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

So since my one trip to Seattle was technically after Lindsay and I started dating (we had gone on one date), I was there for a completely different purpose that time. Add in the fact that Coleen and Oliver will be spending most of their time up in Edmonton in the future, we decided to go introduce me to Mercer Island before it was too late.

We had all sorts of fun adventures up there this last weekend, but I'll let Lindsay tell you about the Japanese Garden since that was her idea. You can find that (and the trip to CenturyLink Stadium (formerly Qwest Stadium)) upcoming on our personal blog. Here, I get to tell you about:

The Boat.

We were a bit concerned about taking out the boat this time. Oliver had to change his flight so that he was arriving in the afternoon, so we weren't sure we'd get to take the boat out. Plus, Jordan had reported engine troubles as well. However, we decided to give it a shot.

After a refueling "mishap" (that left the boat still smelling like gas when we put it back in the garage) we were able to get it into the water. Holding our breath, we tried to start it and.....

and.....

and....

and....

and.....

(ok, one more dramatic pause).....

....it started up just fine. We made our way over to Ivar's and Kidd Valley for some fish n' chips and milkshakes for dessert. We also enjoyed picture-perfect weather that day and made it back to the dock as the sun was setting.

Looks like everyone had a great time!

Story Time Chapter 8

2011-07-04T20:43:00.000-07:00

I was waiting to read Melissa's skillfully crafted chapter but have heard that she is lost in moving boxes, so you, gentle readers, will now read this pale substitute...

Mikey could feel the dizziness and blurring of vision that he knew signaled the end of another memorable time travel session. The potion was wearing off and he knew that soon he would be back at the nursing home. He hoped that the two goons were gone. As he slowly faded out he noticed Michael's ponytail morphing into jerry curls. He felt a few seconds of intense cold and blackness as he spun through time, and then he crashed into the sitting room of the nursing home, almost impaling himself on the knitting needles of a startled grannie. He looked around for the two goons, but he was too slow as they grabbed him from behind and pinned his arms before he could reach the green bottle.

"No more time travel for you, Sonny" they hissed. "Why did that old coot Davis give the bottle to a child? He could fracture the space-time continuum and kill us all! We're taking you and the bottle back to Control."

Just then a huge gorilla like creature crashed through the door and moved menacingly toward them.

Hey there

2011-07-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hey guys-
Sorry I've been so busy and out of it, life is just INSANE right now. I would love to see what you think about this mormon missionary project I've been working on- here's a little bit of it.
Thanks!

2011-07-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Birthday Julian and Caleb!

Story time- Chptr 7

2011-06-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

The fog slowly drifted onto the darkened stage as Michael Jackson bounced up and down in the wings, awaiting his cue. But he was also signaling for help with something. A stage hand rushed over and reconnected the metronome chord that ran through to Jackson's ear. Mikey heard a loud click as the wires meshed. 'Thanks!' Jackson said, 'now I will know for sure when to start singing. It can get confusing with all the dance moves.' The techi gave him a heavy, approving pat on the back and moved the huge gorilla mask from a table to a stand closer to the stage. Jackson warmed up his arms and hands by raising them to the 'thriller' move, and jerked his head to the beat of the music playing. He looked thrilled to go on stage and gave a quick look to his stylist for a go ahead. She hurried over and pulled a few strands of hair loose from Jackson's ponytail. 'There,' she said, 'perfect!' He smiled, clapped his hands, then ran onstage just in time for his cue as the crowd went ballistic.

Story 2 - Chapter 6

2011-06-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

Mikey’s unusual interest in history and worldly events for a young kid made him jump with excitement at the thought of getting such a mysterious bottle. He wasted no time in drinking the first bit of potion and after what seemed like several days of adventures he found himself back at the retirement home with all kinds of ideas whizzing through his head – “So that’s who really killed JFK!” and “I never would have guessed that UFO’s really did exist” and "American independence really was inspired by a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males who didn't want to pay their taxes." In all this excitement and despite his exhaustion, Mikey had so many more things that he wanted to discover. “I’ve always wanted to figure out how Michael Jackson became so successful” he said to himself. As he was about to drink some more portion that would allow him to go back to Michael Jackson’s prime in 1983 he heard voices through the other side of the door. “Stop that kid before it’s too late!” he heard a stern voice say. Just as two men burst through the door Mikey sipped another drop of potion. The potion was running out and before he knew it he was backstage at a Michael Jackson thriller concert.

Story 2 Chapter 5

2011-06-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

The energetic and springy Mikey walked over to Colin with the eagerness that only seven year olds possess. "What is it Mr. Davis?" "I have something that you need to take for me, inside this green bottle is a magical potion that allows you to go anywhere at anytime while being invisible to everyone around you. You have the power to see if the dinosaurs roamed the earth, how your favorite tv show is made, what people are really like and so much more. Sadly I have wasted this power by replaying memories of love lost and squandered opportunities in my own life. I have been a greedy selfish old man but you Mikey I hope you do great things with this gift. I hope you make great discoveries and make our world a better place. Here take this bottle and remember what I told you." Colin handed the bottle, somewhat forcibly, to Mikey and almost immediately drifted off into a relaxing slumber before Mikey had a chance to assess what was happening.

Storytime 2, Chapter 4

2011-06-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

Colin snapped back to his room again. Clearly his prolonged exposure to the green liquid was effecting his brain and causing him to come unloose in time. It was imperative he find the right candidate and make the hand off in the next 24 hours or he could be trapped forever in a timeloop. The knock came again, more insistently this time. "Mr. Davis" the muffled voice called through the door. "Come in" Colin said with exhaustion. The door opened slowly and a child, no more than 7 years old entered. This was Mikey Walsh, the rest home owner's son and a very sweet young man. Colin was startled at the prospect of entrusting a small boy with this precious gift, but then saw a beauty in it. "Mikey, come over here. I have something to show you."

StoryTime 2, Chapter 3

2011-06-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

'Three, Two, One...Happy New Year!!' "Colin, can you believe it? 1940! A whole new decade! I tell you I won't be making it to the factory tomorrow because I will be up too late partying here in Times Square, yeahhhhhhh!" Colin Davis just heard the last word of that sentence from his co-worker, Mr. Riley. He was distracted by a beautiful blonde woman with incredible blue eyes. "Happy New Year Mr. Riley, enjoy your night," Colin said as he made his way through the crowd towards the woman. "Happy New Year!" A festive person in the crowd yelled right in Colin's face. "Let us toast to a great year!" "To a great year," Colin dryly said as he raised his bright green bottle. He was annoyed by this festive individual because it seemed the blonde was getting further away from him. He pushed his way through the crowd a bit gruffly until he was right next to the blonde. "Nothing like a New Year. My name is Colin Davis and what is your name?"

Story Time - Take Two - Chapter Two

2011-06-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

At least that's what he thought it was. His ears strained towards the noise...it sounded more like something familiar - what? - bouncing off the tile floor outside and then onto the tough wood exterior of his door - ka ka thump. The noise bounced and shimmied through the echoes of Mr Davis' innermost being - his eyes shot up up to the shelves next to his window - taking in all the gleaming trophies. Now he knew what it was - it was the sound of a tennis ball bouncing off a handstrung 1920s Wright and Ditson wooden racquet. Mr Davis did not shuffle, he ran to the door, flung it open, and there before his eyes was - Martella!? smiling that gap-toothed dazzling smile. "It's about time you opened the door, Colin." Only she didn't say it in English. Because she only spoke Russian. She walked into the room, bouncing the bright green tennis ball off he racquet. "Do you still have that bottle?"

Utah Valley Half Marathon

2011-06-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I accomplished something I've been wanting to do for a while. I ran my first half marathon! The course started up in Provo Canyon near Sundance and ended at Provo's Center Street. It was an awesome experience. I love running, and since I don't get to do quite as much of it since high school cross country ended, I do what I can to keep it up. I've never run more than 10 miles before, and I honestly didn't train very well for this race, but I really loved doing it. I hope to do more half marathons in the future, and eventually a marathon. This is a picture I got off the event website of me crossing the finish line. I was pretty dead by the end, the last three miles were killer! My final time was 2:02 and my goal for next time is to get 1:50. I know I'm not the only one in this family who likes running, Ian and Beej have both accomplished half marathons and/or marathons so it would definitely be fun to get a family group going sometime for a race!

Sports

2011-06-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Loved the post about Sports and it got me thinking about how much I have enjoyed watching sports with Spence. It didnt used to be something I would seek out on my own- growing up I would watch hockey because it was on already (John and Jord and David and Dad would have turned it on probably...) but it has been really fun to sit down and watch a game of soccer or hockey once in a while with Spence. Not only does he patiently explain the rules to me (over and over again I think) so I understand what's happening, but he also tells me cool insights about the individual players. So I know what 'offside' means, AND little tidbits like that Landon Donovan from LA Galaxy didnt start the game today because he arrived a little later than his team to DC. He was here in California for his sister's wedding! I like having an insight into the players' lives and it adds more color to the game. I remember Jordan or John trying to sell me on sports one time by saying, 'the game is different every time, you can never really know what will happen because each player is so different and there's so many interactions and plays.' I guess that planted a seed because I certainly am interested in people and what they have learned to do and how they interact. I guess if you were to put a label on it I would be a casual sports fan because my husband loves it and I love him, and I am finding things of interest for myself too!

Storytime - chapter 1

2011-06-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

Mr. Davis blew out his candles and weakly smiled as the other residents stood by and clapped their feeble, unenthusiastic hands. "Mr. Davis" said one of the nurses "aren't you proud that you're ninety years old today?" Mr. Davis didn't respond. Instead he stood up and slowly shuffled back to his room. He pulled out a shoebox from underneath his bed and opened it up. The glass bottle he held shone a bright green light - he knew they wouldn't let him die until he had done what they had asked. Mr. Davis wasn't 90, he was 120 years old and still waiting for the right person to deliver the package to. He had been too choosy he realized. He was tired and ready for the end - now he resolved that good or bad, he would give it to the next person who walked into his room. Suddenly he heard a knock at his door.

The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat

2011-06-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of weeks, my sporting world has been kind of busy, despite the summer supposedly being barren of sporting events except for baseball (which I regard as the most boring sport of them all). The work softball league has been going full steam ahead (the ward/stake one died out due to lack of participation) and ultimate frisbee is still as fun as ever. The watching of sports, however, has been even more exciting due to tournaments and competitions, highlighted by this:

We resorted to watching Game 7 at home; Lindsay watched the 1st period while I was still at work, we watched a bit of the 2nd period together then she went to a Relief Society activity while I provided text updates. It didn't go our way (Lindsay was rooting for the Canadian team since Edmonton wasn't playing and I, not having any prior hockey attachments, cheered for the same team Lindsay did) but at least there was no rioting in LA. That I know of.

At the same time, the soccer world is participating in the Gold Cup, which is to determine the champion of the CONCACAF region, which is North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The United States is now in the semifinals. Unfortunately, Canada got knocked out in the group play phase due to a very late goal in their last game, plus they also lost to the United States. It's been a bit of a rough patch for Canadian sports recently, but things can turn around quickly. Such is the nature of sports.

Oh, and Happy Father's Day to all the dads (and future dads) out there!

Bonanza non-extravaganza

2011-06-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

So as we were pulling into Regina for Aaron and Patti's wedding, I noticed Bonanza and strongly lobbied the group that for old time's sake it would be a good idea to go. As a youngster growing up and as many of the Schneider kids can also attest to, we frequented Bonanza especially when we lived in the ghetto by McKee elementary school.

I feel that I've definitely made a few mistakes in my life but I think this one was one of the worst. The food just wanted nearly as good and the self-serve ice cream just didn't have the same deliciousness as the early 90s. I still ate lots of food because I'm never one to shy away from a buffet but the sub-par quality definitely was a bit of a let down. Although it did help me appreciate the beef tenderloin that Aaron reminded me I had ordered for the wedding that much more.

Even little Benjamin was not satisfied with the ice cream because it was below his standards and he loves ice cream it seems to say that as much as he does "dewwwww" which is his version of juice. Would I go back to Bonanza? Probably not. The food is still ridiculously cheap but I want to try to salvage the memory I have of all you can eat ice cream that you can serve yourself and eat forever. Going to Bonanza again could destroy that memory for good.

Story Time Final Chapter Wible Revealed

2011-06-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

The ticking grew louder and louder and then suddenly, it stopped. With increasing panic and desperation Dan looked at the clock and noticed that its screen was flashing DECODE! DECODE! He realized he had only seconds to act. The image of the man with the facial burns flashed into his mind. He grabbed the clock and looked at the back. Then it struck him. The buttons were the same as on the Ben and Jerry's labeling machine.

Once again his knowledge of the Ben and Jerry's assembly line proved useful. Quickly he punched in the code for emergency shutdown. The DECODE message stopped and was replaced by a GPS coordinate. The indicator pointed to a location only a few feet away at the dock next to the opera house.

As he ran towards the opera house, he noticed how eerily similar it was to a series of Ben and Jerry cartons turned sideways. He was amazed how Ben and Jerry had influenced art and design around the world. Suddenly, the clock's alarm went off. He was here! Then he saw something under the edge of the dock!

It looked like an ice cream carton of pure gold. He popped off the lid, but instead of smooth creamy decadence he saw a 3 x 5 index card with the letters WIBLE and what looked like an ice cream recipe. Then it struck him. The rumors were true. This was a radical new product so irresistible that it could revolutionize the icecream industry for decades.

"Nice work, Dan. I'll take that". The words jarred him back to reality. Ray was standing beside him with a crooked grin on his face. Ominously, his right hand had sprouted a midget size Smith and Wesson. Now he realized why Ray wanted him to come to work early.

"Who bought you, Ray?" he asked bitterly. He was answered only with maniacal laughter. It had to be Haagen Dasz. They were the only ones with the resources and German precision to pull off something like this.

Well, they weren't going to get away with it!

"Here, take it, you traitor!"

As Ray reached for the recipe, a quick roundhouse kick knocked the gun away, and a knee to the jaw quickly dispatched the midget. All those hours watching mixed martial arts and eating ice cream had really paid off.

Dan wasn't sure what to do next. Then he noticed a skype button on the clock.

He pushed the button and the man with the facial burns came on the screen with the others in the poker game at the warehouse.

"Great work, Dan. We've been watching you on our satellite system. We suspected Ray was a traitor but we didn't have enough evidence to bring him in. We'll send a helicopter to pick you up and bring you back here to Auckland. As you probably have guessed we are the security team for Ben and Jerry. We've been trying to recover the secret recipe, code name WIBLE, after it got our of our hands. The WIBLE clock stands for WATERPROOF INTERNATIONAL BJSECRET LOCATION EXPEDITER. Its technology was a little more than we could handle. Thanks to you it is safe. We'd like you to join our team, Dan. We'll double your salary and throw in all the ice cream you can eat with a membership to the company gym so you can stay trim."

"Count me in", Dan said. A wave of satisfaction rolled over him. Another great day in the B&J universe.

Story Time Chapter 9

2011-06-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

Dan surfaced through the black hole of unconsciousness to the sound of waves hammering near his ears like fists.

Where was he? The warmth of the sand under his skin felt like the fleece blanket he always wrapped around his shoulders when he sat with his carton of Chunky Monkey on a winter's day.

He sandpapered the grit out from his eyelids and there it was - those massive concrete wings exploding into the clouds. The Sydney Opera House! He sat up, grimacing. He alighted on the fact that it had to be his quick thinking and dexterity that had forced him to blast his way through the tsunami and now here he was on the smooth expanse of sand, all alone. Or was he? A midgety squat figure hovered nearby.

"Ray? Is it you?"

"Who else would it be?", the rich gruff voice was cello to his ears. "I escaped from their frozen clutches to follow you. You know I wouldn't let you do this alone. But it looks like you could easily have been a man short after all because - You were magnificent back there... And now you have just one last little thing to do, one little thing that only you can do..."

A sound nearby stopped him short, a sound that grew louder and louder with each tick. Their eyes propelled themselves reluctantly to a silver clock, half-buried in the sand, with six blackened letters - 'W-I-B-L-E'.

Story (Chapter 8)

2011-06-09T09:12:00.001-07:00

Melissa is totally swamped right now. I'll jump in with a chapter now and may have to do her chapter as well:

Dan had always wanted to get to Sydney, but not this way. He quickly assessed the situation and it was dire. The tsunami alone will destroy half the city and who knows how much devastation is packed into this vest, he thought. He watched the midget jump into the water and swim past the wave, agile and effortless as a dolphin. Dan would have noted how surreal the moment was if he wasn't totally concentrated on the vest. He noted that the clasp mechanisms were almost identical to the automatic capping machine at the Ben & Jerry's factory, which he knew forwards and back, having serviced the temperamental machine almost daily. With a few strategic twists he managed to remove the vest and dropped it off the side of the surfboard. He then jumped off as well. The power of the tsunami was ridiculous, Dan was barely able to aim the machine gun and shoot the explosives about 100 yards from him in the water. BOOM! The vest packed a devastating punch throwing Dan forcefully through the water. As he blacked out again, he saw the midget swimming toward him.

Happy Birthday Melissa

2011-06-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot about this until Linds sent an email reminder today (thanks for being on top of it!). It's Ian's turn to post about me but he's swamped- we just entered into escrow on a new house yesterday which he's totally handling plus I'm turning in a huge project this week and next to the church, on top of the usual craziness of having two sets of twins it's been a whirlwind so I know it's unorthodox to wish myself Happy Birthday but for the sake of sanity I'll take something off his plate ;) Love you all!!!

How old are you turning this year? 34

What is your favorite food? I never seem to get tired of roast chicken and fresh strawberry jam

What is your most frequently purchased grocery item? Milk

What is your bedtime routine like? Lately I've been editing for the church a lot at night... I also try to read scriptures on my iphone and plan out the next day

What are three things you absolutely have to do every day? Clean the table from breakfast, read scriptures, kiss the kiddos

What do you listen to most (artist, radio station/program, podcast)? Glee

What’s one skill you wish you had? better cooking prowess

What skill are you most proud of? at this moment-multitasking

If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go? India.

What is your favorite place you’ve been? Italy.

What are three of your favorite books? Pride and Prejudice, Simple Abundance, Little House

If you had to buy any magazine what would it be? I'm not a fan of magazines... I can't remember the last time I physically purchased one, although if I did it would have been on the Royal Wedding

What is one thing that gets on your nerves? Crabiness- in myself and others!

What is your favorite sport to watch or play? Hockey

What do you love to do when you have nothing to do? Family photo arranging, have friends over for dinner

What are three things you wish you had? More time, more space, more dates with Ian ;)

What is your favorite treat? cookie sandwiches

What are a few things you hope to accomplish or learn this year? Get more producing opportunities, get better at parenting, build our new house.

What are your favorite things to watch (tv show/movie)? on tv currently, Modern Family, The Office, Glee

What are your three most visited websites (besides facebook/email)? I'm boring, I never go online except to check email, blog and check on other blogs

Story Time (Chapter 7)

2011-06-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

The lights went out in the factory and Dan was confused and edgy as his wrist that held the watch started to shake. As he tried to make out the dim objects ahead, he also found himself wishing that taken up that job offer he got from the Haagen Dazs factory down the road for only slightly more pay as he figured he may have avoided this mess if he had done so. Perhaps his loyalty to Ben & Jerry would prove to be a costly mistake. Just when he thought he could see the outline of a person in the darkness, a bright flash of light came. Dan's feet fell out from under him and he slipped into total darkness as he felt himself falling through what seemed like a narrow shaft that may have been part of the sewer system. It seemed as though he briefly lost consciousness but when he came to, he was on a surfboard on top of a large 20 foot wave, a pack of explosives on his back and a sub-machine gun. The only other person in view was the midget and the objects in the distance were unmistakeable - they were headed towards the harbour in Sydney, Australia.

Story Time (Chapter 6)

2011-06-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

Dan opened the door to the warehouse and hesitated for a second before the cab driver gave him a little shove inside. The warehouse was damp and dark, the only light offered was from a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. Although the light was dim, Dan could see six people sitting around a table playing a game of poker. When Dan entered, the six stopped their game and stood up. The group was comprised of the following: two beautiful women, an old man, a midget, a bald giant and a man covered with burn scars. The man with the scars spoke first.
"Welcome Dan."
"How do you know my name?"
"We know everything about you Dan, we've been watching you for quite some time now."
"What do you want from me - I'm late for work."
"We sent that clock to you for a reason Dan. It's time! It's time!
"Time for what?"

Border Guards

2011-06-04T16:06:00.001-07:00

Being border hoppers I think all of us in the fam could share stories... there was the time I had so much luggage the lady looked at me like, 'you were really just gone a weekend?' There's Mom's theory about the gender and age of the border guard affecting how tough they are... there's the whole driving vs flying that Dad could attest to and the varying leniency... There was also the time Spence and I were coming up to be married and the border guard saw my wedding dress in it's garment bag and said, 'there are easier ways to smuggle people in, you know...' There was also the time David and I were encouraged to renew our Canadian Passports when the border guard checked us in and discovered we were both Canadian.

Anyway, I recently got my passport stamped again when i visited Canada for Patti & Aaron's wedding. It was a wonderful visit! Then it was time to head back.

Here's the dialogue upon my reentry when I cleared customs in Calgary... I thought it was a noteworthy one because the border guard actually cracked a few jokes!

‘Where do you live?’
‘Los Angeles’
‘Born a California Girl?’
‘No’
‘Where were you born?’
‘Portland’
‘Ah, and then just a little trip down the I-5 to where you live now,’
‘Yea, pretty much’ (for all intents and purposes we could just leave it at that.)
‘What’s your day job?’
‘I’m a teacher’
‘What do you teach?’
‘1st Grade’ (again, keep it simple)
‘Ah, Quantum Mechanics… Chemistry?’(not simple)
‘Getting there’
‘haha’
'haha' (yes, we actually had a laugh over it)

‘Got any fruit?’ ... and on it went. I guess I didnt look too suspicious - I passed and here I am!

Story Time Chptr 5

2011-06-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Dan glanced around nervously. In his reverie he had not noticed it had started to rain. Huge drops were coming down and the wind was blowing, smashing the shutters of the warehouse against the worn and weathered sides. 'Uh, how much do I owe you for taking me somewhere I didn't ask to go?' Dan grumbled to the Cabbie. The Cabbie gave him a mysterious look through the rear view mirror one more time. Then he grabbed a leather bag from the passenger seat and said, 'follow me....'

Story Time Chapter 4

2011-06-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden Dan remembered why the brand name “Wible” was so interesting. He’d heard the rumors, of course, but nobody had been able to put together the pieces of the secret Wible empire. Or had they?

Did Ray know more than he let on during the phone conversation? Was it too important to discuss this over the phone? Or too dangerous? Or too lucrative? Was Ray a key part of the empire? Or just another person trying to put the pieces together? Dan wasn’t sure, but he decided that the opportunity to answer his questions was worth the risk.

As Dan finished processing these thoughts, the cab driver stated, “We’re here.” They had arrived at a nondescript warehouse in the industrial part of town.

Story Time! Chapter 3

2011-06-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

As Dan took his seat in the cab he saw the reflection of a gaunt face with a broad forehead and dark penetrating eyes. The glare of the cab driver transmited sheer fear and intimidation. Dan glanced around nervously trying to avoid the cab driver's gaze in the rear view mirror. "Take me to the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory, I'm late for work please hurry," Dan exclaimed. "Right away," the cabbie replied calmly still staring at Dan as he quickly accelerated the taxi forward. Waves of a terrible scent of burning rubber penetrated Dan's nostrils as he quickly met the cabbie's eyes through the rearview mirror the cabbie would quickly glance to look at the road but would then quickly return to watching Dan through the mirror. It was at this moment that Dan noticed the brand name on the analog watch on the dash of the cabbie was peculiar. "Wiebe!" Dan whispered to himself loudly clenching his fists. "Yes" the cab driver replied calmly, "I hope you don't mind but we're going to need to make a quick stop along the way there's someone who needs to speak with you."

Story Time! (chapter 2)

2011-06-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

'Wible, that's an interesting brand,' Dan thought to himself when he saw the black letters engraved on the clock. He retrieved his cell phone from his pocket. 'If anyone would know something about Wible it would be Ray.' Ray was a co-worker of Dan's who had a fascination with clocks. 'Ray could also explain the ticking' he thought. The phone was ringing. "We need you here at work right away Dan!" "Okay okay, I'll be there, you know I don't have a car right now, so I'm running late. Do you know anything about Wible, it's this brand on a clock I have." "I know I have heard of them before, but I can't remember much about them right now. Get over here!" "Okay okay, I am about to wave down a cab. I'll be there soon." A yellow cab stopped right by Dan. "Where are you headed?" The cab driver asked.

Dissection Class

2011-05-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

I've had the amazing opportunity to take a human dissection class this spring term. "Gross!" you might say. Let me tell you why it is one of the best classes I've ever taken.
I get the chance to learn things about the human body that I would otherwise never be able to see. Whether I am skinning, separating muscles, cleaning up specimens, or doing a tricky eye dissection, I am learning so much. I am continually amazed at the incredible things our bodies can do. They were truly designed by the best creator. It is a spiritual experience every day, and I honestly feel my testimony growing stronger. The human body is one of the best testaments to God's creation that I have ever seen. And I can't help but think that the spirits of the people we are dissecting are often there around us, checking in on their bodies that they will eventually be reunited with, restored in their perfect forms. We can't take pictures for obvious reasons, but I just wanted to tell everyone about this class and why I love it.

Story Time!

2011-05-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

So Rico had the great idea to begin a collaborative story here on the blog. I get to start since I'm the youngest so here it goes! Remember you can take it any direction you want to.

"Whoosh!" A silver alarm clock whizzed past Dan, nearly smacking him in the head as he meandered down the street. Dan stopped short and turned around to look for the belligerent thrower. There wasn't a soul in sight. He picked up the offending object to take a closer look. At first it appeared to be pretty ordinary. Then he noticed the ominous ticking emanating from its mechanical depths.

ANOTHER CAPITAL (CITY) WEDDING

2011-05-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

Some of the Schneiders - including Benners! took a little road trip down to Regina this weekend to be part of Patti's and Aaron's big day. It was a fabulous wedding - not only tres elegant but tres fun, and with a few surprises too, including Ukrainian dancers. (Gran thought that was pretty cool.)

And keeping with Ukrainian tradition there was of course a dance. That had to be my favorite part of the evening. No photographic evidence to prove it, but I did get to DANCE with OJ, Jordan, John and even Blake - one at a time of course. They all know how to hoof it. Too bad Rico wasn't there to show us some moves as well. (Check out the video and you'll see some other smooth moves though...)

Patti and Aaron looked exceptionally beautiful/handsome and very, very happy!

Memories and Memorials

2011-05-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here in the United States the last Monday in May is a national holiday known as Memorial Day. It was originally created to remember soldiers lost in the Civil War, then expanded after the First World War to include all soldiers serving anywhere.

A picture of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery I took when I visited Washington, DC in 2009.

On the Ferrero side, we developed somewhat of a tradition of visiting my maternal grandfather's grave on Memorial Day after he passed away. We later expanded this to include my maternal grandmother since she passed and was buried next to him. However, this Memorial Day is a little different.

In addition to Memorial Day, today (Sunday the 29th) is/was my paternal grandmother's birthday. She would have been 93 today if she had not passed away in January. The last time I saw her in this world was when Lindsay and I stopped by her care facility driving the rental truck with our stuff from SLC to LA after the wedding reception. I'm almost positive she was just hanging on to make sure her last grandchild got married and once that happened, she was ready to move on. I'm really glad she got the chance.

So this Memorial Day, amid the TV commercials for sales on cars and mattresses, remember the reason for the holiday. Those who have served their country with pride and honor, and those in the family who are no longer here.

LITTLE BOYS IN LA

2011-05-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

There were lots of fun times with the Puente boys in LA the past couple weeks. This was one of the coolest....

It's a BIG event every Wednesday morning, especially for Chrish....

He helps to line up the garbage and recycling bins JUST SO on the curb in front of the house and then he waits.... The SECOND he, or any of the boys hear the sound of a big truck on the road they race outside to line up on the sidewalk and watch the action. Here's what happens - the garbage guys see the spectators waiting for the show and they honk their horn and give a big wave and smile. Then the big cool crane thing dips down and grabs onto one of the bins, hoists it into the air, flips it and dumps it into the dumpster. All with lots of loud, grinding sound effects. The boys almost break into applause. I almost break into applause. Then the bin is plonked down and the garbage guys beep their horn again, smile and wave and drive off. It's all over in less than a minute and then Chrish wants to close all the open lids on the bins. Then he wants to walk down the street and close everyone else's lids.

It's a very cool, very amazing show. And it's free. I don't know what I liked more - watching the trucks or watching the boys watch the trucks :)

Make It All Right

2011-05-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hi gang,

This past Sunday we had ward conference at the MI ward. We were a little nostalgic since it is probably the last

ward conference we will be able to attend there with our move to Edmonton.

President Johnson, our stake president, spoke on grace. He said it is not emphasized enough in our church. We tend to focus more on works. Two stake officers sang "Amazing Grace" in a truly amazing way. This hymn was in our earliest hymnal selected by Emma Smith, but was removed from the later versions in the 1850's for being too Protestant.

Bishop Tracy spoke on the interconnectedness between physical, emotional, and spiritual health. The Tracys have always been good friends and an inspiration to all of us. Of their six children one passed away and three have been affected by either serious illness or disability.

Bishop Tracy referred to his eldest son's physical ailment and mentioned that even though we cannot always heal those physical ailments, we can always heal and even prevent our spiritual ailments.

He reminded us that spiritual ailments are healed with a daily dose of two incredible tools. Heavenly Father has the power to make everything right. We access that power directly through scripture study and prayer. That's what helps us stay connected to the source of truth. Illnesses, no matter what kind they are, are trials of mortality and if we endure them well, and fulfill our part of the covenants we have made with Heavenly Father, we are promised that no blessings will be withheld from us.

I pray that we can all remember this remarkable promise.

Love,

Gramps

a blog.

2011-05-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I've started a blog...that's open to readers...if there are any.

http://chimney-sweeper.blogspot.com/

This might last a year, this might last a week - who knows, who cares. It's an act of creation and I'm doing it for the good of my soul.