Halloween

Well, it's Halloween. Yipee. To say that I've never been a fan of Halloween would be the under-statement of the century. I just don't like it, never have, never will. My favorite holiday is July 4th!

Anyway, my kids are all old enough now to not want to hang-out with Mom and Dad anymore. Kolbie, who is dressed as a Vampire, is running around the neighborhood with her best buddy Annie and her family. Katie, who is dressed as a Skyline Football Player (thanks Mason for letting us borrow a uniform), is up at Alyssa's house trying to act cool, and trying to get up the guts to go through the spooke alley the neighbors put on each year. And Chris, who is dressed up is all black (I don't really know what he's supposed to be) is helping in the spook alley. He says he loves to scare all the girls. I just remind him that he scares girls everyday and doesn't need a spook alley. He didn't laugh at my joke.

So it's just me and Greg at home. We have the XM Radio turned to spooky Halloween music, he's reading, I'm blogging and we're waiting for the trick-or-treaters. The weird thing is: there aren't many trick-or-treaters. Dare I say? It's almost spooky? I know, lame joke.

I remember as a kid going trick-or-treating and having the neighborhood crawling with kids. My Mom would just stay standing at the front door, because there were so many kids. Even though Halloween isn't my personal favorite, I do like seeing all the little kids in their costumes. That's the fun part. The rest, I could live without.

Biggest Loser

I can never figure out titles for these stupid things. Oh well, I wanted to boast a little. I have been doing weight watchers since October 2. As of today I have lost 13 pounds and I only need 8 more to get to my goal. It has been very difficult, but I am having fun with it. I feel my biggest change has been my Coke intake. I have not had a Coke since Oct 4Th. That is incredible for me. It has been cool to think about the eating habits I am changing. I broke the 200 pound mark this morning weighing in at 198.

I have been called in the ward as the ward website coordinator. This will be lots of fun for me. So far I am just trying to get used to the site and cruise around on it. Our ward has only 40 members registered on the site. There are other wards in the stake that have over 100. President Meservey wants the web site to be a place where we can find news, announcements, and anything else we may need about the ward. I would suggest to anyone to get on and check your ward out. www.lds.org then go to about the church and stake and ward web sites. To get to the news and calendar pages you have to register on the site and you need your member number and confirmation date. It is cool to see where technology is taking us.

The Sunday of the living dead!

Today was a funny day in sacrament meeting. It was the annual Primary program. For those that may not know this is the opportunity for the kids to show what they have been learning about for the past year. Just like our stake president said at the end, it is also a good opportunity for us adults to remember what the gospel is about, simplify it a bit. I am a primary teacher so I got to sit up on the stage with all the kids. I enjoyed watching the reactions of each parent as their kid approached the microphone for their part.

I noticed 3 types of reactions that deserve a comment.

#1 was the "sit straight up and smile" parents. These parents sit up and smile as their kid stumbles over the part that you have practiced for all of the last 2 weeks. Of course these parents think that every other parent has now noticed how good or bad your kid did. These parents don't realize that no one else is even listening, they are watching their own cute kids.

#2 was the "mouth the words" parents. Their are lots of these in the audience, In fact they are mostly women. They think that if they pretend saying the part the kid will somehow "get it" through mental telepathy. I think that next year the kids should sit in the audience and each parent can do his or her part. Now that would be funny.

#3 Last but not least are the "another primary program" parents. These are the older than dirt people that do not have kids sitting on the stage. In fact they can be grand parents that are just there for the attendance star. Of course they have to pay some sort of attention because after the meeting they have got to make intelligent comments to the other parents. In the past these parents were the googly dumb ones, but not now. They are too cool for all that.

As the only male in our ward's primary I have got to admit it was sort of fun, but I missed having Jeremy up there to help me. Maybe next year....wait I cannot be shunned to primary for an entire year can I?????

Zigauraut

This is Kate's ziguraut. Please do not check my spelling on that. This has been her project for the last little while for the Mesopotamia block they are doing at school. I had to help her put it together, but she glued it and did all of the wood burning decoration. I hoep she gets a good grade. She certainly put in the effort.

Thank you to Grandpa for the blocks of wood to help us out. Kate is so pruod of her project.

Family Photos

This is the first time that my family has gotten together for family photos since Mason was a baby. Interesting that now Mom has 9 grand children. With Jaylynn moving we decided to take some photos. Carl did a good job.
This is the entire family. My son is certainly taller than me now.
This is the photo that will end up on the post office wall. Scary bunch for sure.

I took a flyer and we went over to Hunter park this morning to see if Dalin was playing football. Luckily he was. It was fun, Dalin ended up losing to West, but they played pretty well. West had an 11 year old that was at least 6'2". Let's see that kids birth certificate! That is not what I wanted to post about. Here goes..... The Bankheads are such a good family. Here we are just some family that came to watch the game, but they make me and my kids feel at home and like we belong there. Kate goes to school with some of the kids on that team. Dalin was sure to say hi to each of my kids in between plays. I am glad that I have him in my primary class. He is a very good kid. I commented to Heather earlier this year that he is sort of a follower. I do not mean that in a bad way. He is one that lurks behind and is always willing to point out when something is not right or he does not feel good about the direction we are going. Dalin will never leave Chance behind in our class. He always wants him to be involved in what everyone else is doing. I respect that. I know that he will grow up to be a fine young man. I know that Jeremy feels the same way. Heather was saying that 2 days after football ends he starts swimming. Busy kid for sure. He has got very good examples in Dan, Heather, Bruce and Vicki to keep him in line. We love you guys! Thanks Bankheads.

Life in general

Things at the James home have been generally.... general, I guess. Nothing too much going on lately. I posted earlier that Jaylynn and Jeremy are moving to Spokane. Derek stopped by on Saturday and we talked for a while. Life has sure changed from the days 20 years ago when we were hanging out at Pinetree #1 and playing Nintendo Hockey. Now we have families and bills. Everyone around me keeps getting older, I am still the same 18 year old in here though.
Some of you may know that I am trying to lose some weight. October 2nd I joined weight watchers with a couple of the guys from work. So far I am down to 202. I feel pretty good about that. I want to get under 200 this week and then when I can get to my goal weight of 190 things will be great. I like weight watchers so far. I do not feel tied down to some diet. All I need to do is keep track of what I eat and stay under 31 points. It was 35 until this week and it went down. I have not had a Coke since dinner after the priesthood session October 4th. That is pretty good. I feel the the stock market crashed because I stopped drinking Coke. Coke's profits must have fallen by some 25%. That will certainly send the country into a tail spin. Hod on tight and BUY stock in Crystal light because it is certain to rise in the coming months.
My Dodgers are officially out of the playoffs, I can again put away the flag until next year. I am slightly down and it will take some time for my spirits to rebound. GO DODGERS! Other than that nothing on the horizon for us. Until next time ....... Think Blue!

Ok, This is not very cool!

This is not the most cool thing for me to report. It is official, my sister (Jaylynn) and her husband (Jeremy) are moving from the ward. I am excited for them and this new opportunity. Jeremy was offered a new job in Spokane. It is cool for him and exciting for their little family. Jill and I were discussing that to get this kind of an offer really helps your self esteem. Jeremy has struggled with his jobs, so for him to get this chance is big. He will be a superintendent for a large commercial construction company based in Spokane. His job will move a round the country depending on where they are working. He is supposed to start on October 27th, not to far away. Jaylynn is going to stay here until at least Thanksgiving. I will certainly miss them, especially having them here just down the street. Now where am I going to get my haircut? (no bald jokes!)

Their house is for sale by a good friend of mine, Derrick Sorensen. Derrick helped Jay and Jeremy when they bought this house. I was excited when they said they had called him again. Derrick is a good guy. He stopped by tonight while I was cooking my dutch oven dinner for the ward outing. Th4e home market has been slow lately, but he has high hopes they can sell their home. I think the only thing holding it back is the back yard. I took these photos of the sign. I know they are dark, sorry. The house is not on Derrick web site yet but I am sure it will be soon. Check it out at www.soldsorensen.com .
I keep telling Jaylynn that if she is going to move that far away then she needs to learn to blog. That way I can see those two little girls grow up. Jayda and Jaycee are both so cute. My Mom is having a hard time so far. It is tough, Jaylynn has never lived very far away. In fact I do not think she has ever lived out of this valley. Mom and Dad will just need to take some vacations now. Heck I will lose my Primary teaching companion. Now what will all of those boys do with just me? I will probably get overtaken. Well drop Jay a note if you want to jasgirl4377@gmail.com She is not the most computer literate, but maybe she can figure it out.

Chris Turns 13!

Today, Chris turns 13! He's still so much of a kids, and becoming so much of an adult. Here are a few things about Chris:

10. He can see an airplane a mile up in the air, and thinks he can tell you what kind of plane it is.

9. He falls and almost breaks his arm at least twice a year.

8. Once before the Primary Program, he cut his earlobe in half with a pair of sewing scissors.

7. He's handsome.

6. He's opinionated.

5. He's intelligent.

4. He works hard at what he loves.

3. His favorite baseball team changes almost every year.

2. He loves potato casserole.

1. He makes me smile almost everyday.

There are the Top Ten about Chris. He may just be turning 13, but he's been doing the "teenager thing" for a few months now. Chris is the son I always wanted, I love him with all my heart. Sometimes I wish I could be there with him all the time, and tell him what decisions to make, but I know that's not possible. I just have to trust him, the thing Greg and I taught him, and pray. He can be a bit goofy, but who isn't?

I remember the night that Chris was born. He was less than an hour old when our families came in to meet him for the first time. I was holding Chris and crying, because I was so happy (and hormonal) when my dad came over to me and whispered in my ear: "Enjoy him, because tomorrow you'll be sending him on his mission." At the time I was a little annoyed with my dad, thinking that he needed to just let me enjoy the moment. Now however, I know how right he was. Chris isn't leaving on mission (I pray that he makes that choice in just a few years), but time sure does fly. It feel like yesterday when we were worrying about car seats, baby formula and sleeping throught the night. Now we worry about him wearing his seatbelt when we're not in the car, watching our grocery bill climb higher as his appetite increases, and making sure he comes in one time.

Chris is amazing. He makes me smile and laugh almost everyday. I'm blessed to be able to say that. I pray that as continue on through the teenage years (he has two equally amazing sister following behind him) that he will continue to be healthy and happy. He adds so much spirit to our home we are blessed to have him in our family.

Happy Birthday Chris!

October 7 is tomorrow and this day in our family carries a little bit of significance. Our oldest turns 13 years old. We now have a teenager in the James family. I think he has been in the teen age cycle for some time. These two pictures are my favorite that we have of him. They were taken a couple of years ago. He is now taller than I am and weighs about 150 pounds. I can still take him if I want to though, but I am sure that time is going to be past soon. Chris has been the son I always wanted. I had a good friend named Chris, I do not know if we named him after my friend, but in a way we did. From his youngest days he would sit with me and watch sports. Early in the spring of 1996 I was taking him to Buzz games wrapped up in a blanket and he would sit through the entire game on my lap. He played Hockey for a time, his first lesson he dropped his glove on the ice. Hockey gloves do not bend like regular gloves. He put both gloves on, but then could not pick up the stick. Then he took a glove off and picked up the stick, of course then he could not get the glove on. It was hilarious.

Chris did not fall far from the tree. He has played fantasy football with me for 3 years now. He wanted to be a BYU fan, but after one trip to a Ute football game he was converted. I am proud of all of his achievements. He was on the safety patrol, completes his first cross country season tomorrow and wants to start wrestling. I am glad he works hard at what he likes. I know that I have caught pitches from him more than I thought I ever would. Chris is a very good student. The only problem he ever has is becoming lazy and not turning in the assignments. 13 years old, wow, it feels like just yesterday that we were holding you in our arms. Now I will just need to fight off the girls.

We converted another to be a faithful follower!

What a great time to consider myself to be a Ute fan! Tonight's game at Rice Eccles was awesome. I was certainly expecting a strong battle form the visiting Beavers, but this was classic. Stan, Louie, Tanner and a friend of his joined Chris and I . Chris and I had tickets in section n25 on row 6, they were great. That was the loudest I had ever heard that stadium.

Tanner swore that he was coming to the game just to enjoy it, and he was still going to be a Cougar fan. Afterwards he said he was converted for life. He even went down on the field and got a picture with the cheerleaders around each arm.
Utah started slowly but they cam on at the end and Bryon Johnson led them down for a Louie Sakoda field goal to win it with no time on the clock.

It is not very often that you can have a chance to enjoy a game like that.

I am positive that Tanner is now among the believers and will be a Ute fan for life. How could you not after that fun and exciting game. Gordy owes me 2 Cokes now.

DODGERS win again 10-3 and now they have the Cubs at the edge of elimination!!!!

Nearly Dead or Mostly Dead!

I am going to admit a bad thing. Maybe 2 bad things here and now. First off, call the police I almost killed my daughters tonight. They were both instructed to walk quickly home from school and to my sister Jaylynn's house. Jaylynn was going to take them to a friends of her's home and use her salon to cut all of our hair. (NO BALD JOKES ALLOWED HERE) I was going to meet them after I got off. Well, Jay calls me at around 4:30, no girls. I told her that maybe they went home and to go and check. Nope, she went to check at the Harding' nope. I told Jay to leave them and I would deal with it. A few minutes after that Kate calls me and they were at a friends house, "We forgot" is all they could say. Not only did they let Aunt Jay down and make her do some extra running, but they did not obey some simple rules. Geez!
Number 2, I have joined weight watchers online. I have gained approximately 30 pounds in the last 6 months and I need to do something about it. Currently I weigh 211 pounds. I want to be between 180 and 185. Louie and Stan at the shop have joined me and so it will be good to have the help of some friends. I have never felt that weight was an issue that I worried about. I have always been slightly over weight, but until lately it has never bothered me. Now I realize that I could feel better about myself if I did something about it. Wish me luck and maybe once in a while I will post about my progress.

I would not feel good about myself if I did not mention the big 7 to 2 victory of my team over the Cubs. Go Dodgers!!!!