Alayna woke up last night and saw some of santa's elves dancing around the family room. They looked awfully familiar to her. She grabbed the camera and caught them on film.

See the dancing elves for yourself by going to the url: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1119947453

Stop, Look, and Listen

I have a quick little story that I'd like to share with everyone. Last Sunday, Shantell and I went to go to church (which is located near where my old Condo is). On the way, we had to stop for a passing train at the intersection right next to the condo. The train took quite a while to pass and there were groups of church goers that were gathering on both sides of the tracks waiting for the train to pass. This crossing is flat with the road and has three sets of tracks (so it is wide). Finally the train passed this interception and started honking for the next crossing that it was going to pass.

The pedestrians who were waiting for the train to pass now started to cross the street. They were non-chelant and were laughing and playing. It is worth noting, however, that the arms that came down never went back up and were still dinging. Still, the train had passed and the crowds began to cross.

Shantell and I were the very first car in line next to the crossing. All of the sudden I could see a train barreling around the corner (from the other direction) at high speed towards them and blowing its horn. No one was looking because the other train that just passed was also blowing its horn for the next crossing. There were a handful of people right on the tracks just chatting. I quickly unrolled my windows and screamed, "Get off the tracks! Get off NOW!!!"

A split second later the train crossed the intersection and I held my breath. I honestly thought that a couple of the people didn't move in time and that their bodies would be hurled into the distance. Luckily, however, people were able to move in time and the train missed the crowds.


I've heard people tell stories of near misses and I sometimes shrug them off. This however, is one story where I honestly thought I'd see a handful of people meet their maker. I'm glad to saw that this event never ended in tragedy.

Bring your own Shower

While Johnathan was in the shower last night, Amber was cleaning the house. She had Jace in the front pack while cleaning. She felt something wet on her hand. Then shaw a drop on her toe and thought Jace must be drooling on her. When she felt a drip on her head she looked up and saw the ceiling leaking and starting to sag.


Amber quickly put some bowls on the major leaking spots and captured a lot of water. I was at a church meeting so she called our Bishop who is our next door neighbor and he ran over and shut off the water to the kids' bathroom.

When I got in touch with Amber on the phone and she related everything to me, I called a plumber friend who came over and told her that it looks like the leak has been there for quite some time as there are many gallons of water soaked up in the ceiling. He recommended that we call a water and fire restoration company.



Aylee was nervous that the kids would try to use the bathroom in the night, so she cleverly designed a "lock" for the bathroom door. It works pretty well!

We'll be calling places today and see how long it takes them to get her, diagnose the true problem, and fix our issues. We might be a little tight for those staying with us this weekend with one shower, but I am sure we can make do. Hopefully the restoration people can at least get the bathroom up and running again before the weekend!

Santa Eats at Sizzler

The other day Amber wanted to use some soon to be expiring coupons for Sizzler for dinner. So, we stopped by the Sizzler near my work and made our orders. While we were waiting at our table for the dinners to come, a man and woman walked by. The man had a red shirt on and a large white beard. Alayna was on to him right away..."Hey guys, It's Santa!!" Alayna could not be calmed down, she was so excited. As they walked by, he turned his head toward the kids and waved to them.

Alayna kept talking loudly about how Santa was sitting right over there eating. She was so loud that he finally got up and came and talked to the kids for a while. The kids thought it was pretty cool.

When he left he gave us this business card...what do you know, it WAS Santa!

Baseball Fan

The other day Amber rented a video called "The Sandlot 3".

The next day, Aylee dressed up in these clothes. What can I say, this girl loves baseball!

Santa Gives His Own

This is a story that Grandma Call wrote for a Christmas booklet that Debbie Packer was putting together. Grandma thought it might be fun to post it on the blog.

Santa Gives His Own

By Dorma Call

Mr. and Mrs. Andersen were the perfect couple to play Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus and they thoroughly enjoyed acting the part. So every year on Christmas Eve, they would dress up like the jolly, happy people that they were and play Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus to some of the members of their Pocatello ward. This project always brought great joy and satisfaction to the couple and they did it until they could no longer get around to do it. They loved sharing the Christmas Spirit with others in this special way.

One year, just after dark on Christmas Eve, Gerald and Dorma Call had just gathered their children in the living room for a special evening together. As they looked upon their small children their hearts swelled with love for them. How dear and precious each child was to them, just as each is precious to Heavenly Father. Their eight children were such good boys and girls. How blessed they were to be the parents of such loving and kind children. Each of their children was excited for Christmas too. Dorma and Gerald hoped that they had taught each child the real meaning of Christmas, even though the commercialism was a part of the celebration too.

There was a knock on the door and the twins, James and JoAnn jumped up together and ran for the door. When they opened the door they were excited to see Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus were invited into the warmth of the Call home and Santa Claus pulled out a really nice gift for each of the Call children. Evelyn and Connie were old enough to know about Santa Claus but were still as excited as the smaller children. Dorma and Gerald enjoyed the children's excitement. Their eyes twinkled as they secretly shared a knowing smile, recognizing Brother and Sister Andersen from the ward underneath all the costume and make-up. How thoughtful it was that the Andersen's would leave their own children on this special night and show such caring to others. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus had brought candy, nuts, and fruit as well as the nice gifts and they made themselves comfortable as they were in the Call home and visited with the family. Oh what a special Christmas that was for the Call family.

Shortly after Christmas, the ward was divided. The Call's and the Andersen's were now in different wards and the children of the two families grew up in different wards not knowing each other. Time passed and the children grew up.

When JoAnn Call was a senior in high school, she started dating Lynn Andersen, Mr. and Mrs. Santa's son. After Lynn and JoAnn were married, Dorma shared with her daughter the secret identity of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus who had come to their home years ago when she was just small.

So the real Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus gave JoAnn their son for Christmas, although it was several years later.

I Can Make A Difference By...

The following video was created by Aylee for the "Reflections" competition a couple of months back.



Link: http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-7869202243920108498&hl=en

There is a few minutes of blue showing as it was a requirement for the judges to have a few seconds of blank screen - so just have some patience.

All of our school age children submitted items.

Aylee submitted four items and won two trophies (one for this video) and one ribbon. Johnathan submitted two items and won a trophy and a ribbon. Aliece submitted one item and won a ribbon.

Wickedness Never Was Happiness

Alayna has been having a hard time telling the truth lately. She feels that lying will keep her out of trouble. The problem is, she is too sweet and tender to really make it work to her advantage.

Today, Amber was sitting at the piano while Johnathan practiced next to her. Alayna came into the living room with a nice large brown mustache. Amused, Amber asked her if she had been drinking chocolate milk (the kids all had some for a lunch snack after school). Alayna, somehow thinking that she might be in trouble for driving the chocolate milk, shook her head "No". Concerned with Alayna's response, Amber asked again if she were sure that she had not been drinking the chocolate milk. Alayna again said (but time verbally), "No, I didn't do it."

Now, in a loving, but correcting way, Amber said, "Alayna, I think you are telling a lie." Alayna choked back a tear and said that No, she was not lying. After that she started crying. She walked around the house for about 10 - 15 minutes just bawling as her conscience caught up to her on this mishap. After a while the crying stopped and I went up stairs to find that she had fallen asleep on the bed - with her cheeks still wet from all of her guilt ridden tears.

Golds Gym - Corporate Robbery

I really don't like Gold's Gym. Well, let me clarify that. I really LOVE their gym, but I hate their administrative and sales practices. Instead of re-explaining the situation, I'd like you to read the letter that I sent KSL. I guess we'll see if they decide to respond :).

-Jake.

Deal KSL,

I've got a great idea for one of your investigations, and I would be willing to help you do it. Let me give you the story.

I wanted a Golds Gym pass, but I heard from so many friends that they just rip people off. You can purchase used Gym passes from those who no longer use theirs but still have time left on their account. However, when you purchase their membership, there is a $100 transfer fee involved. You can also 'freeze' your membership at any time and unfreeze it when you're ready to use it again. Again, there is a fee associated with freezing it and one with unfreezing it. Some salespeople even seem to make up fees whenever anyone tries to do something.

--THE REASON THIS WOULD MAKE A GOOD STORY--

I went to Golds Gym twice to research their prices. They told me that if I signed up for the 3-year deal, it would be such a low rate that I could sell it in a year or two and make money off of it (two different sales people told me this). When I asked them if there were any transfer fees involved, one said that he didn't think so, and the other said, "Yeah, I think it's like $20 or something." One of them brought up the fact that you could freeze the account during a time of non-use. I asked about fees for that and he said around $20. He didn't mention that it was $25 to freeze and $25 to unfreeze.

Finally, I went and purchased a free one year certificate from a Dentist who was probably paid by that for his dental service. I went to the gym and they told me that I was 'good to go,' but that I had to pay a TAX of $35 on the deal. I asked why I had to pay sales tax on a free year and he said that I just did. I paid. When I returned home, I read over the paperwork more closely and found that they put $35 as a payment for the year and $0.00 for tax.

The problem with Gold's Gym is that they are the only main gym that are in several locations in Utah. There really is no other choice if you want to have a gym by your home and by your work. High prices are fine, but I'm not sure that I know of anyone who doesn't feel like they got ripped off after they signed the contract and gets hit with undisclosed fees.

My wife and our friends have also run into similar problems at Gold's Gym. Chances are, even some employees at KSL have memberships and they could probably share similar experiences.

If you have ever seen "To Catch a Predator," I think the technique used there would work here. It would be fun to record them making the sale and telling lies (like $20 transfer fee). Then have someone else go in with a membership that she purchased from a friend and have that same salesperson tell her that it would be $100 to do that. Then walk in with the cameras and find out why they lied.

You could also have someone go in with a gift certificate and catch them on the tax lie. Come out with cameras and find out why they are cheating the IRS. I think viewers would love to see that.

Everyone hates Golds because of their unfair practices, but we all still purchase because they are the only real option. Again, high prices aren't the issue. Out-right lying and underhanded techniques is.

Let me know what you think. I would love to help out if you decide to do this story.

Thanks!

-Jake.

Look Who's Trying to Walk!

Well, Chloe isn't really walking on her own yet but she is taking a few steps by herself. She gets pretty much any place she wants now as she cruises around the furniture and the walls. She's actually pretty quick and pretty proud of herself. She's getting quite the personality . . .and temper as she is learning what she can and can't get into. Wow, she's strong headed :)

Jace's Baby Blessing Scheduled

Ok, I think we have finalized Jace's baby blessing. We're going to have the blessing in our ward on December 2. Our ward meets at 2:30pm for Sacrament meeting. Hope to see you there!

New Bed!!

Well, we finally got Chloe a crib (actually about 3 weeks ago now)! Thanks to Amber, we were able to get a pretty good deal on it without needing to buy the mattress. She was pretty excited about it at first but now I don't think she likes it quite as much. We started a new schedule when we got her bed and she is sleeping much better than she was so we've been pretty excited! A few nights she's only woke up once during the night! Yahoo!

Fickle, Fickle

Fickle: liable to sudden unpredictable change; casually changeable; inconstant and capricious in nature or character; erratic;

So, I thought we were having a little drive to fitness for the holidays and into 2008. However, as I entered in my exercise statistics today I notice that I am the only one that has exercised (or at least recorded it) in the past few weeks.

I've already started gathering some fun/cool little prizes to those that participate. Come on, the holidays are fast approaching, lets get busy and get the blood flowing!

Jot down your current weight at Workout Zone (it is confidential - doesn't show up on reports) and start logging those sweaty workouts! Lets not be fickle!

Here are the details:

Duration:
Oct 30 - Jan 31

Categories:
1. Percentage of weight loss
2. Hours of Cardio
3. Hours of Weights

Prizes
Untold riches, fame and tax-exempt prizes for winners of different categories!

No Complaints!

Johnathan remains one of our most content children. He has to be pretty inconvenienced before he lets you know.

The other day Johnathan came up to Amber and said, "Mom, I have another thing I want to add to WishTips." Amber keeps a wish lists for all of the kids on WishTips.com and they ask her to update it often. Anyway, she asked him what he wanted added to the list. He said, "Can you put new shoes on the list?" Amber looked down at his shoes and saw that the front corner of this right shoe was totally gone, with toes sticking out of both shoes. The heals were ripped out the back and the sides of the left foot were ripped. Amber was wondering why his socks were getting ruined so quickly!

Despite my urgings to wait until Christmas to buy the shoes (so that it goes as a Christmas gift rather than a monthly expense) Amber is insistent upon buying him shoes this week before his teachers call Child Protection Services and we are labeled as incompetent parents.

The Young Ambassadors

Lynn and I went to the Young Ambassadors the other night with Ken, Juia Dee, Autum
& Ken's mom.
It was Fantastic. Those of you who haven't seen them, GO if you get a chance.
Have those of you who live in Provo ever gone to see them?
MOM

Santa Claus Debunked!

Yesterday I was in the office doing some church stuff and Amber was in the family room with all of the kids. Amber was feeding Jace and the kids were doing some crafts at the table.

While I was working I overheard Johnathan tell Amber that he thought that Santa Claus was really just Mom and Dad. It startled me to hear him blurt it out nonchalantly during their play time. What was even funnier was to hear Amber's reaction..."Johnny, you need to go an talk to your Dad right now, he wants to talk to you!"

Johnathan was quickly sent to the office where I had him shut the door for some personal talk time.

We have known that Johnathan and had been doubting the existence and practicality of the jolly old Saint, but any time we have tried to talk to him about it he has talked of the fairy tale as if he were still a true believer. It was weird to finally have him just come out with it all.

We had a good little chat about it and he agreed that he would help us in making the Santa Claus thing a fun experience regardless of who actually comes down the proverbial chimney.

Family Work Day

After I had class yesterday, I came home to find Amber out attacking the garden. She had declared a Family Work Day. She and the smaller girls worked on the garden for quite some time getting it ready for the winter season. The rest of the day was spent pruning rose bushes, ripping out flower boxes, raking leaves, etc.

Jake and Shantell let us borrow their tall ladder, so I spent the day up on the roof stringing Christmas lights, wondering if this would be the last good day of the season. It was such a hot day that I burned the palms on my hand from being up on the black asphalt singled roof without gloves. I didn't think it would be that hot seeing as it was November, but I guess I was wrong.



Well after a lot of hard work, the kids played soccer in the front while we got dinner ready. Aliece has been sick, so she spent a lot of the day sleeping.

Amber and I did escape for a date last night. Aylee was starting to feel sick so we told Johnathan that he was in charge (though Aylee was still there and functioning). He was excited, though, to have that responsibility.

All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten

All I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten.

Lynn and I went to Logan's play in A.F. last night.
Logan did very well in it.
For any of you who have seen the play before, he was Zek "Lefty" Pugh.
He had a couple of solos & I think he did great on them.














This next picture However, was after the play when the girls seem to be hanging on his every word. So I told them to get in the picture with him.















We went with Hans & Julie & Brett & Melaine Haskett to Pizza Hut after the play. It was a lot of fun.

MOM

Sleep talk

When I went to bed I asked John what time it was. His answer was, it's John James Andersen Jr.
Man, I just about died laughing.
Talk about sleep talking! John was sleep talking.

Love ya all!
A's (Aylee)

A Roadside Distraction

Today Jake and I were scheduled to have lunch together. I had planned, however, a daddy-date with Alayna to come to work with me in the later part of the morning. Jake and I decided that we would keep our lunch appointment and meet at Carl's Jr. so that Alayna could play on the indoor playground while we visited.

Jake beat us to Carl's Jr. by just a couple of minutes. He decided to stand outside by the road to wait for us. The road was congested with busy lunch goers, and it didn't help that we were on the road where the High School is located. I saw Jake on the side of the road by the parking lot and pointed him out to Alayna. Jake started waving at Alayna to get a response from her and she was waving back.

I slowed the truck down to make the turn into the parking lot. The person behind me also slowed down. However, it appears that the third person was distracted by Jake's energetic waves to Alayna instead of watching the cars ahead of him. Sure enough, he rammed into the guy behind me.

I was oblivious to it all but I saw a concerned look on Jake's face. When I saw the car behind me pull into the same parking lot as myself with another car right behind, I figured something was up. We didn't want to get tangled up in the mess, so we grabbed Alayna and quickly walked into the restaurant, not daring to look back at the two cars that were getting ready to assess the situation.

We had a good lunch and no cops showed up to escort us outside Whew!