Disneyland 2011

My wife and I are huge Disney fans.  We especially love to visit Disneyland in California.  Since we've been married, we've been there four times, twice without the children.  All four times have been wonderful, memorable experiences.  We recently returned home from Disneyland, where we celebrated our wedding anniversary.  I'd like to share a few thoughts about the trip without turning it into a huge travelog. The travelog would be fun for me to put together as I reminisce about the trip.  But I don't suppose it would offer much enjoyment to others.  Instead, I'll try to share a few reviews, tips, and tidbits.

Travel
In the past we had always driven from Salt Lake to Anaheim to visit Disneyland.  The trip is somewhat long, but doable in what I consider a full day's worth of travel.  The problem with the drive is that it is so tiring, even for the passengers.  We've been able to make it down to Anaheim just fine.  But the return trip almost always required at least one lengthy stop, usually around St. George, to get some rest in order to continue safely home.
This time around, since it was just the two of us, we decided to fly to California.  Fortunately, I had been doing some travel for work lately, so I had some frequent flier miles to help pay for the tickets.  The total cost ended up being just a little bit more than what we would have paid for gasoline.  We probably ended up saving money, since we didn't need to buy snacks and meals along the way.  And we definitely saved a ton of time: the flight itself is only about 90 minutes or so.
We flew through the closest airport to Disneyland.  It has quite a few names: John Wayne, Orange County, Santa Ana, and SNA.  I think that's kind of confusing, since no two people seem to use the same name for it.  But it was a nice, smallish airport, and only about a half hour from the resort.
We planned on only visiting the Disneyland Resort.  So we didn't need a car while we were there.
This is the bus we took between the resort and the airport:

We used the Disneyland Resort Express to travel to and from the airport.  This is a "motorcoach" service (just a big bus) run by Gray Lines with Disneyland Resort-themed buses to ride it.  It was a fun, and somewhat affordable way to travel.   With just the two of us, it cost far less than what a taxi would have cost.  If we were to do it again, I think we'd travel with them again.  However, the cost for the  whole family would have been quite a bit more, since they charge per seat rather than per group like a taxi would.

Hotel
This time around we stayed at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel.  This is the least expensive of the three hotels at the resort.  We've now stayed at all three of the resort's hotels, as well as off the resort.  For affordability, definitely steer clear of the resort hotels.  But for extra fun and convenience, as well as a few extra perks, it's tough to beat the resort hotels.  The Grand Californian is definitely the nicest and most convenient.  But the Paradise Pier is quite a bit less expensive, and really not that much less convenient.  When we save up enough pennies to go back, I think we'll be returning to the Paradise Pier.
Here's a picture from the Paradise Pier Hotel lobby:

Guests at the resort hotels get to use the exclusive entrance to the Disney California Adventure park.  That is a somewhat nice benefit, and allows you to enter the park an hour early to go on the one or two rides they have open early. Ariel's Undersea Adventure and Soarin' Over California were open, but Soarin' had technical problems and closed right as we were about to board. You can also use that time to get a FastPass ticket for "preferred seating" for the World of Color show at DCA.  But frankly, this benefit isn't all that it's made out to be.  DCA really isn't where it's at.  In my opinion, Disneyland is still the better park.  And this entrance doesn't get you into Disneyland.  Also, since the hours at DCA are much shorter, it isn't even a good shortcut between Disneyland and the hotels at the end of the day.
Guests at the resort hotels also get early admission to Disneyland.  While DCA only has one or two attractions open, Disneyland has several attractions open in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.  We took advantage of our early admission to get on Star Tours with virtually no line, and then we rode on Space Mountain several times in a row without any line.  Now that was cool!
This summer, the resort also gave guests at the resort hotel some extra FastPasses.  That was a convenient way to get on some of our favorite rides even quicker.

Attractions
As selfish as it may sound, we loved visiting the parks without any children. We would love to take the children back there.  But we have decided that we will wait at least until our youngest is tall enough to ride on Splash Mountain, our favorite attraction.  Without the little ones in tow, we were able to ride on all of the "big kid" rides we wanted.  We especially enjoyed Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and California Screamin'.  I also really liked Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters and Toy Story Midway Mania.  Those are fun interactive attractions with a neat competitive element to them.
Riding Splash Mountain:

The new attractions this year were an upgraded Star Tours in Tomorrowland, and Ariel's Undersea Adventure in DCA's Paradise Pier.  Star Tours is still mostly the same familiar simulation ride as before. But they have updated the story line to include C3PO and R2D2, as well as elements from some of the new and old movies.  It is also randomized, so the experience changes from one ride to the next, and it is now in 3D.  I'd say it is quite improved from before.  But to me, it is still not worth the long times that most people spend waiting to ride it.  It's one of those rides that is best enjoyed with a FastPass to avoid waiting in line.  But it is still so popular, that even the FastPasses run out pretty quickly in the day.  I didn't even realize that was possible!
The Ariel's Undersea Adventure is a ride somewhat similar to the various indoor rides in Fantasyland.  You sit in your own clam shell vehicle and travel through the story of The Little Mermaid movie.  It is really cute.  And compared to the similar style of attractions in Fantasyland, I think it is more nicely done.  However, unless you really like that genre of attraction, or The Little Mermaid in particular, I don't think it is really worth the long waits that it might still be demanding.

Footwear
I think one of the trickiest parts about planning for a visit to Disneyland is the choice of footwear.  We both chose comfortable sneakers to wear.  But we still ended up with sore feat after all that walking!  Also, we got wetter than ever before on Splash Mountain this trip.  Soggy sneakers are not pleasant to walk in at all! :( For that ride in particular, my wife thought it would have been better to have been wearing a very comfortable pair of flip-flops.  Oh well, lesson learned!

Crowds
This time around we went to the resort at the end of August.  It was still the busy summer season.  But it appeared as though the crowds were waning for the summer as many schools likely has already started their new school year.  So we really didn't have extremely long waits in line. The worst was definitely Star Tours, which usually had 45-60 minute wait times.
In years past, we have found that the best time for us to visit was during November, but still well before Thanksgiving.  That's a fun time to visit to see the park while it's decorated for Christmas.  But the crowds are really low. We enjoyed going on many of our favorite rides with very little wait time.  Too bad our elementary school is no longer on a year-round calendar. :(

Gifts
Since this was a special anniversary trip, I decided to recruit the help of Mickey and Minnie to provide a special surprise gift for my wife.  I requested the "From Mickey and Minnie, With Love" gift package.  This is available only to resort hotel guests.  It includes special room decorations, including fresh rose petals and castle- and pumpkin coach-shaped confetti.  It comes with a nice box of chocolates, two chocolate roses, two custom-embroidered bath robes, and a spa gift basket.  Oh boy, was it nice!  And it was a very pleasant surprise for my gorgeous wife!  Yes, it cost a pretty penny.  But I really thought it was wonderfully done and a very fun way to add to our celebration.  I think I would recommend it to others.  When I was researching it, sadly I was unable to come across any pictures or detailed descriptions of it online.  That was frustrating and made me nervous about whether or not it would be worth the extra expense.  I'm so glad it all turned out so well in the end.
For the benefit of others that may be considering this gift package, here are some photographs. The "beach ball" is actually a pillow that is a normal part of the room decor at the Paradise Pier Hotel, and not a part of the extra decorations.

While we were there without the kids, I noticed all the other children around us with the expensive light-up toys that the park sells in the evening.  One family caught my attention in particular.  Instead of buying the expensive electronic toys to appease whiny kids, they came prepared with their own snap, shake and light-up bracelets.  They connected them together for bracelets and necklaces for their kids.  I thought that was a very clever way to avoid the cost of the in-park gifts, but still let the kids have some shiny night-time fun.
Gifts at the park can be quite a lot of money.  This time around, to save us a little bit of money, we purchased some of our "souvenirs" weeks beforehand at a more affordable store.  They were cute Disney-themed items that were still appropriate gifts to take back home.  These types of things may not be the same as the sometimes unique things that might only be available at the parks.  But the significantly smaller prices still makes it a nice way to afford something special to share with loved ones back home.  I've even read about others who will buy all of their souvenirs beforehand to give to their children there at the park instead visiting the shops.  One post I read online even described sneaking up to their hotel room before the rest of the family to plant gifts and decorations as a surprise.  Those sound like really clever cost-saving tricks to me.

Dining
Unfortunately, we all need to take a break from the good times and nourish our bodies once in a while.  This trip we breakfasted at Jamba Juice one day, and at the hotel the next.  For lunch, we shared a gigantic turkey leg.  Yummy!  And since it was plenty big enough to share, it was somewhat affordable.
For dinner our first night, we ate at the Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue. Boy that was yummy.  It was all-you-care-to-eat barbecue ribs, chicken and sausage, along with as much corn on the cob, corn bread, cole slaw, and baked beans as you can eat.  It's served family-style and accompanied by live entertainment.  That was a surprisingly delicious meal and one that I would recommend.
Here's our Mickey-shaped flour-less chocolate cake we shared for dessert:

The next night, we enjoyed a romantic candlelit dinner at the water's edge of the Blue Bayou restaurant.  The Blue Bayou is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere.  I love the Cajun-style menu items and the intimate atmosphere in the same large open space where Pirates of the Caribbean boats go floating quietly by.  One of the new things I tried this time was a virgin Mint Julep drink.  It was really delicious and quite refreshing. But the strong minty flavor probably wasn't the best complement to the spices of the Cajun food we were eating.  We didn't order dessert. But since our server knew we were there celebrating our anniversary, she surprised us with a complimentary chocolate mousse treat, complete with a lit candle.  How sweet!
Dinner at the Blue Bayou:

Later we did take a moment to get another sweet treat.  This time is was a Dole Whip Float from the Dole snack bar at the Tiki Room.  Apparently this is a famous and popular treat, one that we hadn't paid much attention to before.  It was quite good and refreshing.  But the lines for it are often longer than I think is worth.

Shows
I think the shows at Disneyland are just as entertaining as the ride attractions.  But not all their shows are as interesting to me as some.  For example, I do like the fireworks, but I don't care for the parades.  The shows are a good chance to take a break and relax. But without the kids, this trip we favored going on the attractions more than stopping to watch shows.  Se we watched the fireworks from Splash Mountain instead of Main Street. We did watch Fantasmic at the Rivers of America.  That has been one of my favorite shows since I first watched it when I went to Disneyland with three of my great friends as seniors in high school.  But lately, the rage as been all about "World of Color" in Disney's California Adventure park.  We went to that show last time with all our family.  Frankly, I thought it wasn't worth it at all.  Even though we had "preferred seating," viewing the show over everyone's heads was a horrible inconvenience.  It was late, and the kids were all tired out.  The only way they could see was by getting on our shoulders.  That didn't work very well for two tired parents to take turns holding up four tired children.  And that show is far too long in my opinion.  Frankly, if you want to see a great a show at Disneyland, watch Fantasmic.  It contains some of the same types of water visual effects as World of Color.  But it also has a better story line and includes live actors and pyrotechnics that you don't get in World of Color.
Here's a shot I took of the Fantasmic show:

The End

General Conference, April 2011. cont'd

Day two of General Conference weekend started out with a lovely display of Mother Nature's power. She decided our plum tree needed some thinning.

The poor tree may look a little sadder. But at least it will likely survive. Some of our neighbors sadly lost trees completely. But, we still had the rest of conference to look forward to.

We started our morning with homemade beignets. The girls were especially excited to try out this treat. They learned about them from Princess Tiana from Disney's The Princess and the Frog movie. They were quite rich and delicious. Rae did a wonderful job of getting them done just right.

We enjoyed watching the Sunday morning of Conference streamed to us again on the computer. It seemed to have more stutter in it than the day before. Perhaps there were quite a few more people logging on to lds.org to get their semi-annual dose of Conference inspiration. We opted to use the computer to watch Conference because our television is in a smaller room in the basement, and it doesn't get good reception. So we spread out and relaxed in the living room upstairs to enjoy the sessions.

In between sessions my parents provided a delicious turkey dinner. My mother had it prepared for my uncle and aunt that had been in town from Las Vegas. But the snowy weather scared them away early, so we got to be the beneficiaries instead. Yummy!

We took our time eating the turkey dinner. So we were a bit late starting the last session of Conference. Not to worry with the magic of streaming over the Internet. We just backed up the stream a few minutes and started from the beginning. I'm glad we didn't have to miss any of Elder Scott's talk. He shared some pretty tender thoughts and experiences.

During the last session, the kids and I put together a Lego model of the White House. Our family visited Washington, D.C. around Conference time last year. So it was a fun way to commemorate the trip one year later.

Later, Rae and the girls made "bunny buns." Yet another yummy treat filled our tummies on General Conference weekend. These were made of baked dough and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

I'm so grateful for the time we were able to spend together as a family. It was a fantastic weekend! I'll keep thinking back on this time as an uplifting memory to help get me through the challenging work week ahead of me.

General Conference, April 2011

I'm very grateful for General Conference time.

Life, especially work, has been really busy lately. And being able to take a break this weekend has been a huge blessing.

I quite enjoy the messages, music, and the spirit of General Conference. But I also liked the traditions. My favorite tradition is Rae's special snack food she whips up at conference time. We call it "Rae Dip" and it is the yummiest cracker dip ever. It's a mixture of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and salsa. We usually enjoy it with Wheat Thins. Yummy! Too bad the kids ate both boxes of the crackers on the first day!

Keeping the kids happy during eight hours of General Conference is a bit tricky. At least we can be a bit relaxed in the comfort of our home. Rae found some activities online and printed them out for the kids. They included some Conference-themed bingo cards, coloring pages, and puzzles. Our six-year-old got into the coloring the most. She drew pictures of all the members of the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency. See if you can guess who is in each drawing. These are the drawings she did for the Saturday general sessions:

Priesthood Session

I'm really torn about the Priesthood Session of conference.

On the one hand, I really, really love enjoying a session of conference that I feel like is just for me. It's a time to focus on listening to the messages without the distractions of everyday life, especially the children. The music is usually really awesome at the Priesthood Sessions too.

But on the other hand, I don't get the benefit of being able to sit with my darling wife during the session. Worse, she gets to deal with the challenge of caring for the the children all alone: getting them dinner, ready for bed, etc. Sometimes I wish the Priesthood Session were a little shorter. (Isn't the Young Women meeting only about 90 minutes?) That way I wouldn't be away from the family for so long. And the time of the day is a bit tricky since it's right around bedtime for the children. I also wish adult sessions of Stake Conferences weren't usually at that time for the same reason.

Still, this Priesthood Session was yet another really good one. I especially liked President Uchtdorf's message. It was very motivating to me. When I returned home after the session, we had family prayer time. But instead of our usual Scripture Study time after the prayer, Rae asked me to share with the family a report of what I learned from the Priesthood Session. Boy! Was I glad I took notes on my "smart phone." :) (You'll have to watch President Uchtdorf's talk to hear about that little joke!) It was a nice chance to share with the children why going to the Priesthood Session is so important to me. I was grateful to share with them my testimony of the Gospel. Hopefully the things I learned and shared can help them to build up their own testimonies further.

Thanksgiving, Part 2

It's been a week since Thanksgiving, but I'm still very much in a thankful mood. Today, I'm feeling particularly grateful for my wife.
Here are a few of the many wonderful things she has done for our family in the past week:
• bought me my favorite cereal
• cared for our baby while I taught my Sunday School class
• got our daughters ready for their concert and didn't even have enough time to eat her own dinner
• arranged for someone to watch our son and baby so I could go with the missionaries to teach a lesson
• got all of our kids ready for school in the mornings
• took all of the kids to the dentist
• agreed to play several rounds of my favorite card game, Spaced Out, with me
• took our baby in for immunizations
• taught our baby to walk
• washed all of our laundry and even ironed my handkerchiefs

She is so amazing. I feel so blessed to have her in my life.

I love you, Gorgeous!

Pinecar Derby!!

Our son's Cub Scout pack held their pinewood derby this week. We all had a fun time. Thanks for your help making the car, Grandpa!

Cub Camp 2010, Day 2: Galaxy Quest

Day two of cub camp produced a fair amount more footage. I've finally found a few moments to edit it and post to YouTube.
The boys really seemed to have a great time. And so did I. It was definitely a dirty experience. But what fun is Scout camp if you don't go home with a little dirt under your nails!

Cub Camp 2010, Day 1, Cub Frontier Fort

We've been having a wonderful time at Cub Scout day camp this year. Day 1 was at Cub Frontier Fort.

Tomorrow: Galaxy Quest.

4th of July Weekend

Here are a couple of short clips of some parade-time fun we had as a family this weekend.

The first video is of the Riverton Town Days Parade. My brother and his wife were very kind to arrange the great spot from which to enjoy the parade. They also cooked up a delicious dessert to share! And we loved watching our niece march in the parade with her high school band. This is the same video clip I previously posted straight to Facebook, but hopeful the resolution is a little bit better with this post.





The next video is of our annual neighborhood parade. We have an awesome neighbor that goes to a good deal of effort to organize this fun gathering. The children love dressing up in their star-spangled funnest, decorating bikes, scooters, strollers, etc., and cruising through the neighborhood to the beat of a drum line. We end the parade at the city park by our neighborhood where the children enjoy face painting, popsicles, and other treats. What an awesome neighborhood we live in!




Rae got this great shot. I think our neighborhood looks really pretty in this shot. And the color of the parade looks great against the green of the trees.





Besides the parade, we also enjoyed a nice little family picnic at my parents' house. It was great to see my cousin who lives in Minnesota there as well.



Finally, we ended the weekend with another picnic at my wife's parents' house. The following clip shows a bit of the fun and games we enjoyed there.


Overall, this has been a fantastic 4th of July weekend. It makes me very proud to be an American. I'm very grateful to God for this great nation. May he bless us all to preserve the freedoms we enjoy.

Father's Day 2010

Wow! Did I have an awesome father's day! My wife and children are the best. They started with making me a very lovingly-prepared and delicious breakfast of pancakes, sausage, strawberries, yogurt, orange juice and tropical fruit smoothie. They sang a primary father's day song as they brought the food to me. They were so cute. Our six-year-old felt bad that she didn't have anything made at school to give me like her older siblings. So my wife let her give me a game that she had bought for me. But she did give me a cute coloring page that she worked on in church later. (See the accompanying picture.) Her siblings gave me a cute craft made of woven construction paper and a "pocket" stuffed with a paper ruler, pen, and pencil with nice sayings written on them. My wife had another "bigger" present in mind for me. But it was still being shipped. So she felt bad enough to give me a cute little pretend iTunes gift card instead. Well, I thought she was quite a bit more generous in the amount of the gift card than I really deserved!

At church, all of the primary children sang two songs for the fathers in the ward during sacrament meeting. The first was "Fathers" and the second was the same song my family sang to me in the morning. It was very cute. Although, our son did disappear for a while during the second song. We discovered that he was busy removing his socks for some reason. But don't worry, at least he brought back one of them when they were done. Thanks, Sister Atkinson, for finding the other one for us!

At priesthood meeting, we were given some yummy cookies to munch on during our meeting. I chose a chocolate cookie with frosting. Thanks, Sister Howell and the Relief Society! They were great! Our priesthood lesson on the Atonement ended a bit early. So we even had enough time to fold and put away all of the chairs before primary was finished.

After church, we took the kids to my wife's parent's home. My brother-in-law (yes, the same infamous tooth-fairy's assistant, although not to be outdone by other, more ambitious tooth pullers) had cooked up some delicious barbecue.

I am so grateful to be a father! I feel so loved and am so happy to have such a significant purpose in this life. I have four wonderful children, who are such a joy to have in my life. And my gorgeous wife is the perfect companion to work beside in raising these little angels. She is so loving and patient with all of us. I couldn't make it without her deep wisdom and phenomenal organizational skills.

I am also grateful to my own father for all that he has done for me. He is an awesome example and has always been a wise teacher and mentor for me. I feel privileged to have been sent to him and my dear mother to be brought up in this world. Of course there are very many on this world that don't have such ideal family circumstances. Still, I know that our Father in Heaven really loves his children on earth and works for our happiness, even if we don't always recognize it. Ultimately, He is the Father to whom we can all pay homage on this very special occasion of Father's Day.

To all you fathers and those of you who have a father: Happy Father's Day!

Uncle Tooth Fairy

Our 6-year-old daughter had a tooth that was very loose. She asked me multiple times over the few previous days to try to pull it out for her. I'm quite squeamish with such things. So my attempts were not very effective. I tried to tug it out, but when it didn't come out with just a little force, I gave up and told her we'd have to wait a little longer for it to loosen some more.

Well, her uncle wasn't quite so patient with the tooth. I had left her at his home while I helped my parents move some furniture in their house. My brother-in-law had an innovative way to get the loose tooth out. Clearly from the video, my daughter was in no way harmed or in danger. But the extreme nature of this extrication method still shocked me a bit. Anyway, her uncle was at least good for the dollar he promised his niece. And she was clearly happy for not only the dollar from her uncle, but for the anticipated earnings to come in from the other Tooth Fairy.

Enjoy the video, if you dare...

You Tube Link.

Without Bounds: Atlantis

The inspiration for the name of my blog came from our two oldest children. Our 10-year-old daughter and our 8-year-old son have both been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. While Autism may be a convenient label to affiliate with them to help describe some of their behaviors, it is still really too narrow of a box to capture who these two precious souls are. It may be that Autism isn't really the most accurate label at all to apply to them.

While sometimes it's comforting to have that somewhat "solid" explanation to hold on to, I'm inclined to allow my view of them to be more open and flexible. Raising them has presented enormous challenges to my wife and me. But it has fascinated me to observe and ponder on the unique nature of our children. The title "Without Bounds" captures so much more about our children than any clinical diagnosis from a psychologist ever could. It describes the way they impulsively act out any and all desires they have at any given moment. Their disregard of conventions, traditions, culture, and rules is often a source of frustration for us at home. But that also gives me a glimmer of hope for them. I anticipate that their "thinking outside of the box" and living "without bounds" in general can allow them to reach beyond what others may initially view as the limits of their potential.

Example: Atlantis

An example of the limitless possibilities came up recently. Like most boys his age, our son often becomes obsessed with certain themes and brands as marketed by various enterprises that generate products targetting young children. Lately he has become very interested in Lego toys and some of the themed incarnations of those toys. One of those themes is Atlantis. He has been asking a lot of questions about Atlantis. At one point he asked my wife to read to him about Atlantis. We happen to have a book presenting the vision of Atlantis from the point of view of a somewhat recent Disney animated movie. He promptly declined, tersely declaring "that isn't the real Atlantis."

Then, one night he asked me, "Dad, is Atlantis real." I recommended that he explore that question by going to the original source. I said that he should read about it in Plato's Republic. He took to that idea enthusiastically. I had an old copy of the book given to me by a friend in college. Our son and I had an exhilirating run throughout our house, searching from bookcase to bookcase for the book. We finally found it on a shelf in the family room downstairs. He happily clutched the precious book in his hands as we climbed the stairs up to his bedroom, at one point declaring that he was going to become a diver when he was older. His excitement was thrilling for me to see. He had in mind an exciting journey of discovery and adventure. Of course I recognize this was induced by the very Disney movie he had earlier rejected, as well as the depictions of Atlantis shown by the Lego toys. But it overjoyed me to see him aggressively pursuing his ambitions to the extent that he could as a young boy. And now here he was, with the secrets to Atlantis to be found buried within the words of Plato himself. Later that night I found him with the book in bed, scanning through the book searching for clues about Atlantis. He soon tired and fell asleep.

Of course I'm not so deluded to really believe that my boy is just going to start plowing through Plato's Republic. This is the same boy that sometimes can't even get through his comic books on his own unless Dad is there to help him read. In fact, as I peeked at the place he had marked with a scrap paper, I discovered that he had actually made it as far as page 'x' of the introduction. The introduction start on page 'viii.' :) It truly would be neat to see him explore the ideas of mathematics and philosophy presented by Plato. But I'm pretty sure he will quickly tire of the plan and give up. Nevertheless, I was so impressed by his willingness to branch out just a hair. I feel like one day just such a whim will truly captivate him or his sister and lead him or her through fantastic growth and learning. I can't wait to see that, because I really love seeing the sparkle in the eyes of my son and daughter as they reach for their dreams, reaching well byond the bounds that most of us seem to stay behind.

Molly Siobhán

Summary:

• Molly Siobhán
• Born 28 Dec 2009
• 7 lb. 10 oz.
• 19 in. long

Mother and baby are doing very well. The siblings appear to be adjusting relatively well. But the cat still appears a bit jealous. :)

The Details:

My wife was scheduled to be induced on Tuesday. But apparently Monday turned out to be less busy than the hospital anticipated. So they called her up just before 9 AM and asked if she could be there by 10 AM. She was happy to have the baby sooner than later, so she said she would try. I got a call from her after that. I quickly wrapped up what I was doing at work and zipped home. My sister-in-law and her husband were there to pick up the other kids as I arrived. We quickly rushed to gather everyone up and send them off to grandma's house. Then my wife and I drove to our new hospital.

We arrived at the hospital just after 10. Mom was checked in and on an IV by around 10:30. From there, things progressed very quickly. At first Mom felt a bit awkward being in a hospital bed ready to give birth but not actually having contractions. She started out at a three. But the pitocin worked its magic really quickly and she was well on her way to hard labor. The contractions were very strong and frequent by 1 PM, but she endured them well. Water was still intact, and the nurses were keen to keep it that way until the doctor could arrive to break it for her and complete the delivery. But the doctor had been called away to an emergency cesarean section across the valley. So we had to wait. In the meantime, the contractions became worse and the pain more unbearable. So we sought out the staff to arrange for an epidural, even though the original plan was to wait until after breaking the water. But alas, the anesthesiologist at our hospital was occupied in a cesarean there. So my wife pressed on through the pain until she was complete. The nurses were starting to appear quite anxious, and the doctor was still not back from the other hospital. It very nearly appeared that she was simply going to deliver without him.

Then the doctor rushed in through the door, threw off his coat and slipped on his sterile gear. There was some difficulty getting the bed to break apart. Apparently the bed had not been properly prepared. The linens were put on wrong, not to mention the blood marks from a previous use still on parts of the bed. Yecch! Mom was really hurting at this point, but still enduring with an amazing amount of calm. When almost everything was in place, she started pushing. After four pushes, the baby was born at 2:37 PM. Apparently my wife was the first to deliver at the hospital that day, despite arriving at the hospital three hours after everybody else. For our first child, she was also quite rapid to progress and was very nearly complete by the time we arrived at the hospital. The other two births were also somewhat smooth and quick. I guess she's just good at this sort of thing. :)

I'm really proud of her. This was her first time being induced. This was also her first delivery without an epidural. Though it was not intended to be that way, she worked through labor and delivery marvelously. Still, she indicated that it was excruciatingly painful; and she says she would not recommend it to anybody!

The recovery after birth has gone remarkably well. Both Mom and Baby are home resting now. The siblings finally get to meet her and interact with their new sister. They weren't allowed to visit in the hospital due to the restrictions related to H1N1 influenza. We did set up video chat sessions with a netbook at the hospital to help them start to connect. But once they got to meet her in person, they were immediately smitten. The girls just love to hold her and be with her. Our son was originally dismayed at still being the only boy among the children. He had asked us to move him downstairs so he wouldn't have to be disturbed by the baby's crying in the room next door. But once he met her, he too was excited to have a new baby sister around. And while the first night at home had both Mom and Dad getting up several times to attend to a crying baby, our son apparently went through the whole night without waking up once!

The cat had already shown some signs of jealousy toward babies. During a recent visit from our infant nephew, the cat was constantly seeking out attention and behaving slightly suspiciously around the baby. While we were away at the hospital for Molly's birth, the cat was growing increasingly stir-crazy. Every time I stopped by to check up on things and feed him, he chased me around the house to garner a few moments of love. He's not declawed, and he definitely has his extra "playful" moments. So we're keeping an eye on him as well as going a bit out of our way to give him some extra attention so he doesn't become too competitive or spiteful to the point of causing harm.

About The Names

The names Molly and Siobhán don't necessarily have any particular family significance. They just happen to be names that Mom liked, and I was happy to agree to. Both names are Irish. Both my father and one of my brothers served as voluntary missionaries for our Church in Ireland. So we're happy to make somewhat of a leap to grasp at that connection. Molly is simply a variation of the name Mary. Siobhán (pronounced sha-VAHN) is the Irish form of the name Joan, the feminine of John.

Joshua Tree National Park

I visited Joshua Tree National Park recently. Many of the features were really pretty and interesting. However, I don't think the park in general holds a candle to many of the outstanding parks in Utah.

Still, I did enjoy my brief time in the park today.
Most of the park is quite what you'd expect of a desert: dry, brown, and plain. There were a few places that looked like tiny little oases. And the large garden of cholla cactus plants was very impressive.

Confessions From The Road Trip

Three coworkers and I loaded up a rented Toyota Highlander last week and hit the road for a excitement-filled trip to the mountain desert outside of Tonopah, NV.

Confession #1: Lawlessness. I drove us from Salt Lake to our destination. Now normally I really am the sort of guy who believes in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. But there's just something that snaps inside me when I'm on the clock, along with others in the car who are also charging for their time. For some reason my foot just gets a bit heavier than usual. The GPS we took along with us said the trip should be a bit over nine hours. ... I got us there in about five and a half. Now in my defense, I'm pretty sure the TomTom GPS underestimated the speed limits and quality of the roads, at least a little bit.

Confession #2: Worldliness. Admiteddly I'm already a bit too interested in the things of the world. Gadgets and technology are particular weaknesses I have. The place we stayed on this trip made me realize just how much stock I put into such things. We stayed at a site unfortunately-named "man camp." Man Camp was one of the least pleasant places I've visited in the continental U.S. We weren't allowed to bring in computers, including smart phones. Cell phone coverage was non-existant. The buliding we lived in was actually an old dormitory. It was nestled into a bleak complex of other similar buildings along with completely dilapidated portable buildings, a recreation center, a sad looking ball field and a running track around a grassless soccer field. My room was just large enough for two basic twin beds, a small desk, a lamp table and a very broken down chest of drawers that barely held up the weight of the late-eighties model TV on it, but certainly didn't have any drawers that were actually usable. The bathroom was really just a small water closet with a modest toilet and a small shower stuffed behind the door. The carpet in the room didn't seem like it had ever been cleaned since it was installed some decades ago. There was, at least, a phone. And the TV did have a modest selection of cable channels. My wife asked me which I missed more, my iPhone or her. It was definitely her, but the iPhone wasn't too far behind. ;)

Confession #3: Selfishness. A dozen or so participants of our group flew in an old jet while the rest of the team stayed at a headquarters building near the airstrip or at a remote site on a peak several miles away. I was assigned to fly on the plane. (By the way, I was told that this plane was previously used by George W. while he campaigned for president.) I really did offer to switch places with one or the other of my coworkers assigned to the ground site. But I'm pretty sure my heart wasn't fully backing up the offer. Flying did have its down sides: motion sickness, longer hours, etc. But it sure came with some perks. Man Camp was forty miles from the nearest restaurant, and even the cafeteria by the airstrip was closed on the weekend while we were there. But the airplane had (got) to fly to Las Vegas in order to refuel. When in Vegas, we still didn't have time to go anywhere. But even just visiting the corporate jet center at the airport was quite a treat. One day we each pitched in $5 for Subway sandwiches from a nearby store. Another day we called in an order for pizza to be delivered in time for us to take back with us on the plane. The lounge area had free gourmet cookies and lemonade. The restrooms were spacious and clean. Though not normally my preferred view, the sight of the lavish casinos of the Las Vegas Strip across the street was certainly more pleasant on the eyes than the rocks and scrub brush of Man Camp. And best of all, I had cell phone coverage to let me place a quick call home to my beloved wife while waiting for the plane to be fueled. I secretly cherished these brief escapes to civilization while my counterparts back on the mountain top suffered without decent food or water and were burned by the desert sun. I felt bad for them, but maybe not as much as I felt glad for me. :)

Confession #4: Merrymaking. Though not perfect, our testing over the weekend was quite successful. I'd go into details, but I'm not good at making my work sound interesting to others. I get too caught up in jargon and parts that are boring to most sane people. Suffice it to say we successfully established a really cool wireless Internet connection. Hmm, see: I told you I'm not that great at making my work seem interesting. Unfortunately our last flight was canceled due to bad weather. But that gave us some extra time to celebrate. So what does one to to celebrate while staying at Man Camp? Why one goes to the recreation center, of course! The recreation center was quite popular with participants in our testing. The biggest reason was very likely the $2 beers! OK, so there's really not much for me to confess here. I'm still as dry as the day I was born. Most of my Salt Lake coworkers and I managed to avoid the actual bar area. Instead, we hung out in the game and sports areas. We enjoyed an evening of arcade games and pool. I play pool horibly. But I did manage at least a few good shots on the air hockey table. I actually didn't even stay up very late. The six several-hour flights of the previous three days had me absolutely exhausted. So I hit the hay after only a few hours, anticipating my none-to-soon escape from Man Camp back to my loving family at home.

Online review - Lego Star Wars Jedi Starfighter!!!!

My son recently discovered an online video review of a Lego toy. He was fascinated by it. He liked watching it over and over. He memorized the elements of the review as well as the style of the reviewer.

A few days later, he decided to give it a try on his own. He grabbed hold of his mother's digital camera, put it in video mode, and let it roll. This video is the result. The cute guy really seems to enjoy this kind of thing so much. So we decided to post it here so he could see it online for real.

Stake Conference

We've enjoyed another fantastic stake conference this weekend.  Our stake presidency has been released after eight and a half years of great service.

We were visited by Elder LeGrand R. Curtis, Jr., area-authority seventy, and Elder Marlin K. Jensen, general authority seventy.  They were both marvelous teachers and leaders.

Here are some highlights that I enjoyed.

At the Priesthood Leadership session, Elder Curtis taught about revelation.  Then Elder Jensen followed up teaching about the order of the priesthood.  He highlighted the wording about the order of the priesthood in D&C 107:1-4.  Then he emphasized our roles in that order as explained in D&C 64: 29.  Elder Jensen used terms from the legal profession (his former occupation) to highlight those concepts.  He taught us that we, as priesthood bearers, are the agents mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants.  The principal who engages the agents to act on His behalf is the Lord.  He compared our charge as priesthood holders to the practice of granting "power of attorney" in the modern legal sense.  The "scope of authority" of His agents is established "according to the will of the Lord."  Elder Jensen referred us to Elder Curtis' teachings on revelation to help us know the extent of our scope of authority to act as agents to the Lord.  I also like the additional depth of meaning provided by the Latin root of the word agent, agere, meaning to drive, lead, act, do.

In the Saturday evening adult session of the conference, Elder Jensen taught from the scripture Mosiah 4:9-10.  Elder Jensen used those verses to indicate how we can know that God forgives us of our sins.  But what struck me about them was how they so emphatically assert the existence and divinity of God.  I was touched by that and thought that anyone struggling with doubts about God's existence might benefit from reading those two verses.  He does live.  He does love us.  He does forgive us.

Our ward choir sang at that adult session.  We sang "Where Can I Turn For Peace," a number we had sung at our ward conference earlier in the year.  The stake presidency had heard it then and invited us to share it for the whole stake.  I'm glad they did.  Our performance at ward conference was OK.  But our performance at stake conference was truly backed by the hosts of heaven.  It felt so much stronger and meaningful.  I was glad to be a small part of it and feel strengthened by the experience.

Sadly, I wasn't able to attend the final, general session of stake conference.  I was on a plane to Baltimore while it happened.  I can't wait to discover who is in our new stake presidency...

Ice Storm

I had heard about ice storms before.  News reports told of roads and transportation systems shut down.  They detailed the plight of hundreds of thousands of people without electricity due to cut power lines.  But never having lived anywhere but Utah during cold winters, I had never experienced a real ice storm in person.  

In Utah, we usually only get the soft and  fluffy stuff.  It either melts almost right away, or builds up in soft piles that can be easily wiped away.  Sometimes it gets a little soggy.  But even the wet snow and slush is still squishy and somewhat easy to deal with.

Then I went on a business trip to Maryland in January.  It was cold the whole week.  That alone was notable.  Obviously we have cold in Utah too.  But the humidity in Maryland made that cold cut straight to the core.  It reminded me of how much the humidity in Brazil made the heat feel hotter.   Even once we entered nice climate-controlled buildings, the cold feeling lingered with me.  I was glad I had my lab coat to keep me warmer while we worked. 

I suppose it is that same humidity that helps in the formation of the ice in the ice storms.  Our storm happened on our third day in Maryland.  I was astounded.  Finally, I had first-hand experience to help me better understand the difficulties that come with such a phenomenon.  I walked from our hotel to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.  On my way back, I saw a car that had slid over the ice through the disability parking stalls up onto the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt and nothing was damaged.  Our rental car was a covered in a 1/2-inch thick layer of hard ice.  One of my coworkers was the one to rent the car on this trip.  So he got the "opportunity" to figure out a way to get it off the car.  The little bit of paper towel we had left in the car the night before apparently was just not going to cut it.  So he just got in the car, turned on the engine, and hoped the heater would melt the ice quickly.  It didn't seem like it was working, when he spied something in the rear-view mirror.  The rental car company had furnished the car with an ice scraper that had been placed mostly out of sight behind the headrest of the rear seat.  We were saved from having to walk to work that morning.  Still, the short drive was somewhat perilous.  And we did witness one car slide into a curb.

To save wear and tear on windshield wipers, and to make scraping ice easier, most drivers in the area would lift up the wipers from the windshield when leaving their cars parked while ice is possible.  Once again, this was a first for me.  But I could see the benefit of that.  Still, many people simply chose not to drive at all.  When we did get to work, we soon discovered that most of the employees at the company hosting us were either late to work, or simply opted to not go into work at all that day.  It hindered our schedule a little, but I wasn't about to speak critically of those who chose not to work that day.

Though the ice storm only lasted one day, the ice itself remained the rest of the week.  I was fascinated by it.  It was so foreign-looking and interesting to me.  It coated lawns with a beautiful solid white dome.  Sidewalks remained covered in a sheet of solid ice.  Ice like that would only form in front of my house if I neglected to shovel the snow and allowed two or three days' worth of elementary school pedestrian traffic to pack it down.  

The storm also prompted the closure of virtually all of the schools in the area as well.  This in turn compelled President Obama to complain.  Even the school attended by his daughters was closed for the day.  Obama, supposedly toughened by years of living in the frigid Chicago area, was dismayed that a little bit of ice caused such a fuss.  But I don't suppose that Obama had to personally drive out in that weather.  Had he done so, I doubt he would have been so critical of the school administrators.  

I for one do not blame them one bit.

Where Do You Sleep?

We had tithing settlement last night.  It was the best one we've had yet with the kids.

• They almost all came into the bishop's office within a few minutes of our turn starting
• They actually stayed in their seats for most of the meeting
• They didn't write on the walls with markers
• They had a great learning moment with our bishop

Sure they were wild and crazy and chased around the gym and halls while we waited for our appointment.  But hey, we've had worse ... much worse.

Our bishop was great.  He thoughtfully and kindly taught our children not only why we pay tithing, how the Church uses tithing funds, and the importance of declaring our tithing status with the bishop each year.  

Then the bishop asked each child to state whether or not they were "a full tithe payer."  It was nice watching our girls cheerfully and excitedly blurt out "yes!" when each was asked.  When the bishop asked our son, we had to pull the ear buds of Mommy's iPod out of his ears to compel him to hear and answer the question.  He answered "yes," but was obviously annoyed at the interruption of his search for Star Wars video clips.  (Isn't technology great at keeping kids still for at least a minute or so?! :)

The best part of the meeting was when our bishop asked us all if we had any questions.  Our son and younger daughter shot up their hands, eager to ask a question.  Our son was called on first.  He asked some vague question that was probably loosely relevant to the purpose of the meeting.  Then the bishop called on our daughter.  I was charmed by the way she grinned with little bright white teeth gleaming and her head slightly cocked to one side as she asked, "um ... where do you sleep?"  It was so adorable to witness her naive, but sincere curiosity in such a simple little question.  The thought of the bishop taking up residence in a Mormon church, huddled in some corner classroom on a cot was so humorous to me.  And never mind the thought of the poor former bishop, released just a year ago, displaced from his "home" just days before Christmas.  Of course the bishop was very kind in his answer.  He just smiled, perhaps holding back a chortle, and answered simply that he was just like our family, and had a home nearby, with a nice warm bed to sleep in.

Of course, to our young daughter, it seemed natural to assume that the bishop lived at the church building.  She only ever really saw him at the church.  Or, at least, if she did see him elsewhere, he wasn't dressed up in his suit.  This was her first year in the main primary as well.  So she is still learning so much and figuring out how things work.  And of course, she had seen lots of the church building, nearly every hall, chapel, and room.  There was a kitchen, and bathrooms.  But she hadn't ever come across a room with a bed in it!  Hmmm.

I guess it just goes to show how much the bishop really does do for us.  It truly is nearly a full-time job in and of itself, despite the lack of pay.  Yet the bishop, of course, still has his own family and non-ecclesiastical career to maintain.  It truly must be possible only with a great deal of divine help.  It's definitely a post I would not feel up to holding.  I am extremely grateful to those whom the Lord does prepare and help to be called to such a position.

Aloha!

So, I've been sent on another business trip to Hawai'i.  OK, so big deal.  It's not all fun in the sun and relaxation in a tropical paradise.  No really, it's really not.  I'm not kidding.  Oh, whatever, believe what you want.

This trip is all the buzz back at the office.  Everyone seems to have heard about the program that has sent people to Hawai'i.  "Oooh, now that must be a really tough assignment." [Insert sarcasm here.]  It's kind of ironic that one of our smaller programs is getting so much attention from so many people in the office.  I hear several may be attempting to discover "legitimate" business reasons to come join the traveling team to meet with customers, etc., especially the etc.

Seriously, it's not all it's cracked up to be.  Sure we do get a little bit of time to enjoy the sites, sounds, and especially tastes of Hawai'i.  But there are serious down-sides to it too.  Take our schedule, for example.  This week we meet at the hotel resort at 1 AM to begin our travel to the work sites.  The travel time on Maui from the hotels in Kihei to the summit of Haleakala is about 90 minutes.  I'm currently on the Big Island.  Our travel time from the resort at Waikoloa to the NOAA facility near the top of Mauna Loa is closer to 110 minutes.  Then we work at the site for about 6 to 8 hours; our time is limited on the sites because our customer is worried about long-term exposure to high-altitude conditions.  So we do our experiments and collect our data, and turn around and go back down the mountain.  So basically half of our 24-hour day is spent at work, during not-so-enjoyable hours of the day, and a third of that time is spent traveling.  And please note that it is not necessarily pleasant travel.  It's mostly motion-sickening winding switchback roads.  Here on the Big Island, it's also a very rough, pothole-filled road much of the way.  Right now, I also don't have a car.  So for any personal time remaining, I'm mostly limited to the locations within walking distance in the Waikoloa Beach Resort, which is about 20 miles away from anything else of significance on the island.

The worst part about it is how much I miss my family while I'm here.  Sure, my co-workers, other contractors, and the customers are all really pleasant people to live and work with.  But being away from my spouse and children for four weeks is definitely no picnic, neither for me, nor for them.

That said, there are still some really neat things about the trip.  This is my second time doing this for the company.  Last time, I got to bring Rae out for a few days before we started our work.  We stayed on Oahu and visited the Polynesian Cultural Center, the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, and other neat sites.  But it was really sad to send Rae off on one plane towards home while I got on another flight towards work on Maui.  But I've also been able to see a fair amount of the islands of Maui and Hawai'i.  The road to Hana is really beautiful.  And seeing live volcanic activity in action at the Hawai'i Volcanos National Park was really amazing.  I've really enjoyed visiting the La'ie Temple and the Kona Temple too.  Yes, the food in Hawai'i is really delicious too, when we get a chance to enjoy it.  Most restaurants have limited lunch and dinner hours that don't match well with our work schedule.  Much of the time they are only open when we need to be sleeping to get ready for an early start the next morning.

In case you are interested, we are testing a faster-than-broadband Internet-like connection.  I was a lead developer of the networking software for this product.  We are testing our network connections between the two mountain tops.  I have been told these two volcanos are the only two such sites at a great distance from each other, but still within line-of-sight of each other anywhere in the USA; hence the reason for this location.  What we are working on is really cool technology and actually one of the most exciting parts of this trip for me.

Here are some more pictures of my trip this year.

Wii, je suis Fit

I'm still persisting with my Wii Fit exercises.  I've passed the 100-day mark and my fit piggy bank is now silver.

I have found this to be one of the most amazingly motivating things for me.  It's a great mix of excellent design with really cool technology.  I'm always a sucker for that kind of thing, hence my addiction to Apple products.

I don't have time to do much with it, but I try to do it every day of the week except Sunday.  Mostly I just do push-ups/side planks and jackknives.  The balance games are sometimes pretty fun too.  I'd love to take more time to do the yoga, but just can't find enough time for it when I work out in the mornings.   I love how I can really easily track my  BMI and weight each day.  It's exciting to work toward a goal.  The only thing that bugs me about it is when it switches trainers on me occasionally.  Maybe if the lady trainer looked as good as Rae that would be OK ;)  But otherwise, No Thank You.  Now I just wish I could have it with me when I travel. :(

Who knows, maybe with persistence, some day my arms won't be so pencil thin!