I think I'll have Thanksgiving for Halloween

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving is. So, we decided to have an early Thanksgiving with our family in Illinois and Indiana. Look through our Recent Pictures on the right.

One short day in the emerald city...

Ok, so the only time Chicago is like the emerald city is St. Patricks Day when they color the river green, but Daniel and Amanda and I went to Chicago to see Wicked and eat real chicago pizza. We rode in on the Train from Lockport. We wanted to ride in from Joliet, but the parking lot was full.

This picture is Daniel and Amanda at the train station with the Sears tower behind them.

Just east of the Sears Tower is Wells Street.

Wicked, the Musical was an absolutely amazing production. We had great seats just off of center at the front of the first balcony.

Chicago stuffed pizza for dinner. Yummy!

All good things must come to an end. So we get back on the train and wave good-bye to the Sears tower and Chicago. We had a great time!

Holiday Newsletter

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our annual family newsletter will soon be printed and mailed to many of our friends and family. However, since you are a reader of the blog, you can get your own copy... in color right here.
With that out of the way, I can prepare for a wonderful turkey, stuffing, pies, and games for the rest of the weekend.
I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday...

Hello, I must be going...

Monday:

• 5:00 U14 Boys Soccer Parents Meeting
• 6:00 Home Evening
• 7:00 - 9:00 Varsity Soccer Practice

Tuesday:

• 5:00 - 7:00 U14 Boys Soccer Practice
• 7:00 - 9:00 Varsity Soccer Practice

Wednesday:

• 5:00 - 6:30 U14 Boys Soccer Practice
• 7:00 - 8:00 DIII Representatives Meeting (in Meridian)
• 7:00 - 9:00 Varsity Soccer Practice (missed)

Thursday:

• 5:00 - 7:00 U14 Boys Soccer Practice
• 7:00 - 9:00 Middleton Soccer Board Meeting
• 7:00 - 9:00 Varsity Soccer Practice (missed)

Friday:

• 7:00 - 9:00 Varsity Soccer Practice

This was my schedule for last week. Just me.

Add Dara Dee's temple trip and women's night out, Daniel & Dallin's temple trip, Daniel at a baptism, Registration for High School, Amanda at mutual, and there's no wonder that we need a day of rest on the Sabbath.

We're really looking forward to this week. Andrea and Shalene are coming out to visit, Daniel has two soccer games. We have 12 soccer practices. School starts: Annika begins Kindergarten, and Abigail gets Mommy all to herself for half of the day. Oh, and of course, the Back to School street dance!

Life goes on: sit down, hold on, and enjoy the ride.

The wind-up and the pitch

Those long summer days seem to evaporate as quickly as the morning dew. Last year's high school seniors disperse like so many autumn leaves. How did it become possible that I have a son ready for his Senior year of High School? Certainly time has been kind and callous in it's unending march.

This week we've had several of our summer activities come to a close, as many of our preparatory requirements for the upcoming school have unavoidably arrived.

David and Abigail got the chicken pox, they are the last of the children to get them. Alayna and Annika have lost all traces of their illness. However, this has interfered, yet again with swim classes. I think that chicken pox are a subtle reminder that we are not in complete control of our environment, that despite our technology and progress, we must be aware of our inability to create a completely "safe" world, there are so many things out of our control.

The children in front of the swimming pool

Daniel started his High School two-a-day practices for Soccer. This started monday morning at 6:00. The team is better prepared than any of the previous teams I've helped coach; they are also a fantastic group of boys, to an individual, they are smart and unselfish supportive players. They should do well this season.

School registrations also happened this week. We have three in grade school, one in middle school, and two in high school. That makes for a lot of registration.

Daniel and Amanda went to a multi-stake back-to-school dance this week. The theme was "the red carpet oscars"; everyone was to dress as their favorite celebrity or movie star; of course modest standards applied.

Here is Daniel as Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones (recognize the hat Jim?)

And Amanda as Avril Levine

I guess that we're just getting started down this crazy road that happens every year at this time. It is always quite a roller coaster - best just hang on and enjoy the ride while it lasts.

The Big Blue Room

This weekend found us traveling to Twin Falls for a short camping trip. Daniel went on a camping trip with the Scouts, but Amanda, Dallin, Alayna, David, Annika, Abigail, Dara Dee and I all packed ourselves into the Big Blue Van (BBV) and towed our little trailer down to Anderson Camp to spend the night. We enjoyed their swimming pool, and game room before we settled down to bed. Saturday morning we were pleased to discover that there was a little stream (give oh give) and an Apricot tree full of small, ripe fruit. Anderson Camp is a clean, if aging, campground at the Eden exit of I-84.

The main purpose of our trip to Twin Falls was to let our family see the Twin Falls Temple during the three-week open house. This is a rare opportunity for people who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to see the inside of a Temple before it is dedicated as a sacred building. We wanted our children to have this opportunity as well.

The Twin Falls, Idaho Temple is a magnificent two-story structure with beautiful flower gardens encompassing the grounds. The ground floor contains the offices, reception area, and baptistry, while the endowment and sealing rooms are on the second floor. There are three sealing rooms, each of which is on the eastern-facing side of the building. The endowment room is adorned with a magnificent mural depicting the beauty of creation in the area of the Twin Falls. This room flows into the telestial room which is elegantly simple. The Celestial room is a vaulted room with high stained glass windows adorned with an absolutely amazing chandellier with thousands of crystals. Of course, the craftsmanship and decorations are very elegant and tasteful throughout with beautiful stone, hardwoods, and stained glass. The Syringa (the Idaho state flower) is used throughout the edifice as an ornimental element in a simplified neuveau art-deco style. Also on the grounds is a new church building that is used to stage the many visitors to the site.

The guides told us that over 100,000 people had visited the temple to date during the open house, with over 6000 visiting before we had on Saturday. We had about a 1 hour wait before we were able to enter the Temple, but we got there at about 11:30 in the morning; probably the absolute worst time, as there were only a few people after us that were waiting. Presumably, most people were at lunch and the visitors would pick up again afterwards. There are about 600 people needed per day to host the open house, all are friendly without being over-zealous or preachy. Questions are answered, and those interested in finding out more information may fill out a contact card. The only preachy people we encountered were not from the LDS faith; these people insisted on giving us a "newsletter" explaining what they considered to be shortcomings of the Mormons. The temple will be hosting the open house until its dedication on August 24th.

In other news this week, Daniel and Amanda got their wisdom teeth removed. Both were swolen up like chipmunks, but at least they could tease each other evenly. Annika and Alayna both got over their chickenpox. David and Abigail never seemed to get them, at least they haven't broken out with them yet. Annika injured herself on some playground equipment at the swimming pool and poked a hole completely through her ear.

In all, due to sickness, injury, and recovery, we didn't participate in many activities outside of home the first half of the week, but it was refreshing to me to be able to be at home without many outside obligations. This is soon to change as Soccer season gets under full steam this week with High School two-a-days starting tomorrow morning.

Catching up on May, June, and July

It's been a really busy time since our last post. The end of the school year is always full of concerts and trips. Amanda went with her choir group to Lagoon in Utah.

Both Daniel and Amanda had choir concerts as well. They were in the Caldwell High School Auditorium. I think this was a nicer venue than Albertson College, er... the College of Western Idaho for the performances. The FX Choir performed the musical numbers from "Hairspray", and I must say that they did a really good job. Daniel really does shine on stage, you can see what I mean in this picture.

This was the end of David's first year of school. He graduated from Kindergarten. He had been our most shy child, he didn't really take to nursery right away, so we worried that school would be difficult on him; we shouldn't have worried. He took to it like a bird to the skies; learning all he could, especially about reading. He discovered that he could play all sorts of video games if he could read the instructions: that is all it took, and now he is reading really well. The picure is of David and his teacher.

My birthday was in June, the big 4-0; and DaraDee arranged for a little "surprise" party for me. We went down to Boondocks, and raced the cars as well as to the park in Boise for a picnic. It was not as bad as I expected it to be (turning 40, not the party).

We also went on the ward campout. Great fun with old and new friends in the mountains of Idaho. Dara Dee went on a morning hike with Annika and many friends, here is a picture of Annika along the path.
One fun project that Dallin and I worked on was a Tree Fort. He got the plans from the Dangerous Book for Boys and we worked on it with his friends. In the end, it is probably the most impressive tree fort I've seen in a long time (if I do say so myself). It has an 8 ft x 8 ft platform that is 10 feet up in the air. It has cedar decking and redwood beams with a trap door and the guard rails are supported by tensioned aircraft cable. I think he's probably slept up there ten times since Dara Dee declared it "safe". Here is a picture of Dallin and I working on his Tree Fort.

Our annual family pilgrimmage this year took us to Phoenix, Arizona; a great place to visit in July! We drove down there with Brandon, Goldie, and Gideon in the Big Blue Van with our nine, so the van was as full as it could be. Well, at least our miles per person per gallon of gas was very efficient!

On the way there, we stopped at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. There is no way to overestimate the amazing grandure of this place. The picture can not do justice to the scale of this amazing place.

When everyone finally got to Phoenix, we had a great time. The weather was hot, but the company was terrific. There were several swimming pools, and lots of good air conditioning. Here are just a few candid shots of our reunion in Phoenix:

We stole two nephews after Phoenix and brought them home with us (ok, it was part of the plan). But along the way we stopped to see my good friend Jim Lutz and meet his family. It was wonderful to get to know them, we plan on going back to see them again soon.

Also along the trail home, we stopped to see Dara Dee's Uncle Dart and Aunt Young Sun. It was so nice to see them and renew those friendships as well.

There is more to post, but this will have to do for now. I'll put more pictures up and link to them so everyone can see our goings on.

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Camping in Idaho.
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Just couldn't wait

So, instead of posting one photo each day, I changed the slideshow (at the right of the posts) to point to my "best of Italy" flickr slideshow. You can either view the thumbnails there, or you can click on it to view the slideshow at larger resolutions. I took all of these on my DSLR in RAW mode, so these JPEG files won't have all the depth of the original photos, but I think they're fun anyway.

Home Again

We're back from Italy, but it's changed our hearts. We will always have a bit of Italy in us, and we are making plans to return. For now, we'll have to make due with our photographs and the few trinkets we bought while there. I'm going to post a favorite photograph from our trip here until I run out of good ones. So, here is the first. This was sunset in Rome as we were walking to the bus one evening.

The last supper...

For our final dinner in Italy we're eating at a beautiful restaurant called I'll Drapo. Sardenian cuisine. Mmmmm.
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Lessons learned

1. Forono means good food cheap. Yes, I know it means oven, but besides bread and cookies, you can also get fresh pizza and turkey roulade and oven roasted potatoes and other veggies. All the locals go there for their quick lunch.
2. Buy five or more dolci. You get them at a much reduced price (like donuts are cheaper by the dozen). If you're buying for breakfast the next day this works well... Or just for later ;)
3. Bring washcloths. Clean towells and sheets are provided, you won't regret this.
4. Always ask a local where to eat. Ask the waiters what is beast to eat. They know AND they'll help you feel right at home.
5. Plead ignorance. If you mix up something, you' get sympathy and help.
6. transportation: Milan-subway, Venice-boats, Florence-walk, Rome- busses.
7. Be flexible. The church you wanted to see is closed? Eat a gilato and come back later. Bus beraks? Get out and walk to the next stop and catch another.
8. People watch.
9. The journey, not the destination, is the vacation.

We love you Italy.
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Roman baths

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Ancient Rome

Built to keep the masses entertained, it worked until Rome fell to the Barbarians. Kind of like TV today...
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Monday night in Rome

Trevi fountain. Nuff said.
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All roads lead to...

St. Peter's square in Rome.
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Ponte Vecchio on the river Arno in Firenza

It rained today. This afternoon, the sun came out and illuminated the scenery.
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View from on top

This is one of the amazing views from the top of the Duomo in Fiorenza.
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Fierenza

Second day in Florence. We're waiting in front of the Duomo for it to open at 10:00. this picture is of one relief by the front door. There are probably 5000 or more of these adorning the church.
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You can' immagine how huge this thing is!

The Duomo of Florence.
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Sparklies!

This photo was taken just before our salesguide explained that we couldn't take photos in the showroom. They had many items here for the new season and didn't want their competitors. To get a preview.
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Murano

Besides being the capital of Italian glass, Murano is a lovely, residedential island with working-class people. It is far more serene than bustling Venice.
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Glass artisan in murano

The things they make here boggle your immagination.
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St. Mark's Square

A view of the Doge's palace, the execution columns, clock tower and St. Mark's cathedral in venice from our water taxi on the way to Murano (where they make the glass).
We took a water taxi ride to murano to visit one of the the glass works. There are many here on the island.
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Venice in the rain

It was an overcast day, slight drizzle. Yellow and orange houses against a grey sky. But it was Venice, and beautiful.
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Venice street

There are about a thousand streets like this in venice.
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View of the lake

The day was amazing.
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Venice

No words
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Time for something sweet

Gotta love snack time
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A venice boatride

We just arrived in venice. This place is magical. Our apartment is tiny, but cute and functional. First thing tomorrow we explore.

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Milan...Darling

Long day today. We overshot our jetlag compensation and couldn't sleep past 5. That's ok, we got up and took an early morning walking tour towards the Duomo. It was fun to see the city waking up on a saturday morning. Milan is a juxtiposition of old and new - of sacred and profane.
After walking past the opera theater (and this statue of DaVinci we went through the Galleria; a big covered mall with Gucci, Prada, and other names you'd recognise (including McDonalds!) To the Duomo. Amazing in scope and grandure and details. We also saw the old Duomo; St. Ambrogio, the technology museum, the ENORMOUS castle Sforzescon and the Palazzo di Brera art museum and art preservation school before taking the metro back to the hotel.
The transportation system here seems to work very efficiently. They have a good metro (subway) for getting from one part of the city to another, a surface light-rail system that is more extensive as well as busses. All of these are used extensively. The busses send their information ahead to the bus stops indicating where they are going and when they will arrive! Very cool.
So much more to say, the food is amazing! But I'll save it for later.
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In flight update

We've got a few minutes in Amsterdam. Flying here from Portland, we never saw true darkness, just a long combined sunset/sunrise. We were up in the arctic circle and 500 miles north of the only city we saw on the map in Greenland. You can see in the pictures where we were. Just a few hours to go til Milan. I hope we can see the Alps, it is cloudy here.
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