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NOLAF

Tribute to Steve

Hey everyone. This is my dad, Steve. He's a great guy, and my bestest of best friends. I've always been close with my dad, and have always appreciated our relationship. In high school when it wasn't cool to love your dad, I loved him anyway and felt comfortable talking with him about my perceived complicated life.

My dad is probably the smartest man I know personally. I remember having trouble with my calculus homework in high school. Steve said, "let me take a look at it." I remember thinking, "uh, ok, whatever," but acquiesced anyway to indulge him. This was complicated stuff - we were right in the middle of the school year and deep into the integrals and derivatives. After only a few minutes, he had figured it out. I've never forgotten that and have come to appreciate the kind of mind it would take to pull off a complex calculus problem when you haven't taken a math class for 25 years. I take great pride in coming up with pointless facts or information that I know and he doesn't. It's kind of become a game for me.

My dad has also had a very successful professional career as an attorney. He's very well respected among his peers, and has received the highest peer rating possible by Martindale Hubbell. He's very quick to think on his feet which makes him very valuable in the courtroom. He makes no reservation of asking the hard questions, and doesn't seem to be intimidated by anyone. In fact, there have been many occasions where I've been witness to him seriously grinding on some other attorney over the phone, fighting like a pit bull for his client to the point where it's actually uncomfortable to listen to. Then at the end of the conversation, he can ask sincerely to the other guy - so how's the wife and kids? And people reciprocate! They know he's just a genuine guy. I don't know how he does it. The thing is, as successful as he has been in the legal profession, he could have done equally well in any other field. For example - one of his passions is architecture. He designed and built his giant cabin. Enough said.

My pops is also the most generous man I know. I can't count how many times he's helped me out of a bind. I look around my house at all the things I own - and somehow I can find a way to trace many of them back to his generosity. I'm only one of 8 kids in our family, and I know he's done the same for them. His family means everything to him. Steve gives and gives freely to so many people - family or not. I think he knows where his blessings come from and is quick to share. I'd share more examples specifically that I know of, but I don't think he would want me to. But know that there have been very many who have been touched and helped by his kindness and generosity.

Steve is also very gifted spiritually. I've learned that when he says he's had a dream or a prompting - I pay attention. He works very hard to keep his life in harmony with God's will. For many years he's given up his time to go work in the temple twice a week. I've always admired that. Consistent temple work is an easy thing to talk about, but not as easy to actually do. Keeping yourself worthy in the first place is always a challenge. I've been working with my dad at his law office for about 8 years. My favorite thing about it is being able to work with him. Once a week or so, he'll pull me into his office and close the door. Then we just sit and talk. He often shares with me new things that he's learned in the scriptures or in the temple. He tells me he loves me, he helps me keep a broad perspective, he helps me feel closer to God. Outside of my own family experiences, these moments with my dad are the most cherished things in my life.

So I'm not ashamed of my sentimental, corny side. I inherited it from my dad after all. The bottom line is that I love my dad. And where people can be quite cavalier about using the term hero - my dad really is my personal hero. If I can only amount to half the man he is, then I will have done very well. So Dad, if you read this - thank you for everything, honestly - everything. I love you.

Pictures that need no caption...

Yes, this is an oldie - but still a goodie. These pics came through my email, thought I'd post them here for some laughs.

Egg Drop Contest

Christine had an egg drop contest this morning at school. I had never heard of one before, but I guess it's quite a common thing. She had to build a device to house an egg. The device would be dropped off the school roof. If the egg survives, she wins a prize. So naturally, I googled egg drop and found tons of stuff - but none of it useful. I'm not that creative - and I'm not an engineer, so I was looking for pointers. I couldn't find anywhere online that gave details on how to make a successful device. So I'm going to do that now. The parameters of the contest were that it couldn't be longer than 12" on any one side, couldn't contain bubble wrap, foam or spray insulation, packing peanuts, balloons or parachutes. This is what we came up with:

First of all, let me just say that Christine was scowling at me when I started this design. She was complaining that it wouldn't work, and told Emily, "Mom, Dad's doing something stupid." But once we tested it and it worked, she thought it was the best idea ever. I was suddenly her best friend. At WalMart she kept saying, "I love you Daddy." I liked that part.

All we did was take a piece of posterboard (WalMart $.59) and rolled it into a cone and taped it with packing tape. We cut the bottom part of some plastic hangers and poked them crossway through the top to keep the cone from toppling over. On the inside, we put a golf ball in first (to keep the nose pointed down), then packed cotton in all the way up to the top. Then we just stuck the egg right there on the top (just underneath the hangar parts). We did a test run off the roof of our house (15 feet) with our prototype (it only took 10 minutes to make) and it was successful. The egg was intact. We tried it again with the prototype, and again the egg remained unbroken. The school height is more like 20 feet. So I was a bit worried about that. But, at the contest this morning we had another successful drop, much to Christine's delight. She was so excited to not break her egg and claim her prize (a pinwheel). Afterwards, she was proudly showing her unbroken egg to everyone. I imagine it will end up as a pile of sludge in her pocket by the end of the day. If you have questions about the design, feel free to comment and I'll respond to you.

Redneck Underwear

The picture says it all. Come to think of it, I'm kind of running short on tank tops. But thanks to this guy, I have an idea of where to get some more without having to spend any money. All you have to do is cut out the skid marks, and voila! A brand new tank top!

Project M3 (Men, Mustaches, Military)

Ok. Time to post an update on project M3. I think the photos speak for themselves. Needless to say, it was a big success. Erik loved the photos. As you can see, we didn't need to photoshop Aaron in after all. He drove up and made it just in time...with his gun...

He's dead Jim...

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

How to impress people at the gym...

This is quite impressive. The music makes it perfect.


Just For Men:

So we're finally taking our "brotherly" mustache photo this Sunday. I can't wait to say goodbye to the lip fur. Too bad I have to go to church on Sunday before... Anyway, I was able to get my hands on some Just For Men. It gives you natural look and guarantees an increase in manliness, vigor, stamina, moxie, bravado, depth of voice, and skills with an axe of no less than 31%. Sounds pretty serious. Makes sense why they call it Just For Men. This should be really good. I've been looking for a way to improve all of these attributes. I'll take an after pic once it's done.

I need to add some photos from my brother in law Aaron. He lives in Texas, so we're going to have to photoshop him into the photo once we've taken it. Here are some of the photos he sent. If chiropractics doesn't work out, I think he may have a good career ahead of him in terrorism...

I also need to credit Jon for his amazing mustache growing skills. Below are two pictures, a before and after. The one on the left is before he shaved, the one on the left was taken immediately after. He looks wonderful.

DISCLAIMER: None of these photos have been retouched.

I trimmed up the old stache this morning. I feel it's a stache worthy of an English inspector. That's what it reminds me of.

I love photos where the picture is snapped just as the person starts to blink, catching them in this dazed look. No one ever comes out of that scenario looking good. It always makes people look rather retarded. In fact, I think I'll dedicate one of these entries to photos of people with their eyes half closed. Anyway, this is my attempt to replicate such a photo.

I've also got to put up a few photos of Clay (my older brother). He's been on a roll lately with his pics. His mustache looks quite nice. He sent me this one on the left with the caption, "has anyone seen the other two musketeers?"

He also sent me this one on the right with the caption, "Table tennis doubles world championship." LOL! Cracks me up.

And then there's these - taken at Josh's (younger brother) wedding. To my niece he was saying something like, "...tease the camera...that's right - show me some attitude!" These pictures pretty much define my brother Clayton. Now you know everything there is to know about him.

My Bracket

So I actually won our office NCAA Basketball tournament bracket pool. I really don't care so much for college hoops - so I fill out the bracket to make it more interesting. But I've never done very well. So yay for me. Here's my bracket.

This is awesome!

It is so easy to get excited about something like this - but then reality sets in. Big companies would simply never let this thing get off the ground. It's so frustrating. But imagine how cool it would be to run our cars on salt water.

Today's business...

Ok. I gotta give my props first. We'll start with conference. Ever since President Hinckley died, I had been praying for a confirmation that his successor, Thomas S. Monson, is a prophet of God. And I got an overwhelming answer Saturday night - a resounding "Yes!" It was an awesome experience. One that I won't forget. So I'll gladly and openly shout it from the roof tops and testify to anyone, that this man is God's prophet on the earth today. And EVERYONE, would do well to listen to what he has to say, and follow his counsel. In today's world we need this kind of leadership. We need this kind of direction. And we definitely need the spiritual nourishment. Imagine how great it would be if people tried a little harder to be kinder, more tolerant and accepting, more loving and charitable. Everyone would benefit. So there you go. President Monson is a prophet of God. Go listen to what he has to say and be happy.

LAN party report:

The LAN party was a blast.

Plumbing Woes (warning - lengthy and boring):

Saturday was a bit of a lousy day. I got up with the intention of being productive, and knocking a few things of my honey-do list. Our shower was dripping, so our valves were failing, and I was going to make it my project to fix and replace them. But in order to to that, you need to shut off the water main. And as it turned out, my access to the water main managed to bury itself somewhere out in the front yard. I had a general idea where it was, so I just needed to dig up some sod to find it. Well, as I was using my half moon tool (which is the second one I've bought in a year cause the last one broke) to cut and lever up the sod, it cracked in half. It was an omen of what was to come, and I should have just quit the day right there. I ignored the omen, and used a shovel to dig up the rest of the sod. I found my water main access a few minutes later. When I used my key to turn it off, it didn't work. The valve wouldn't turn anything off. So I had to go to the water meter, and turn it off from the city valve. When I turned that one, (which did work) it started leaking. I ignored it for now and went in and attempted to take off the valve stems but to no avail. I didn't have the tools to get them out. So I figured at that point I'd just have to call my buddy Dave (who's a plumber) to fix the valves for me. So I tightened things back up in the shower, and went out to the leaking water main and turned the water back on. I couldn't get this valve to stop leaking, and it was filling up the water meter hole. I called the water company to come take a look. They showed up, pumped out the water, told me I had a leak, and left. Very helpful. The guy said that I shouldn't touch the valve cause it would make it worse. Ok. 30 minutes later the water meter hole was overflowing. Oh well, I'll nothing I can do about it right? I went in to rest and take a nap. Shortly after Emily comes in and asks, did you know the shower is on? I go take a look, and water is shooting out from the stems, and coming out of the shower head. I did my best to tighten up the valves as best I could, but it was still coming out of the shower but only a little. I went to home depot to get a brass fitting to cap the shower pipe with until Dave could come to the rescue. Once I got back I figured I'd just take off the shower head and screw on the fitting since the pressure was low, and I wasn't supposed to touch the water main valve. Well, I take off the shower head, and it was like opening a fire hydrant. Water was shooting out like a fire hose. Though it had appeared that the flow was slow, it was only due to the fact that the shower head was totally clogged. So I'm trying to get this fitting on with the water coming out full blast, soaking my clothes with very cold water. It was quite the spectacle. I finally gave up and went out to turn off the water main valve again - it was broken anyway. I got the fitting on, turned the water back on, and everything finally seemed to be in order. At least until Christine asked me why it was raining in the basement. I didn't even want to deal with that at this point. I couldn't figure it out anyway. I just hoped that all it was was the stems leaking and that once they were fixed, the leaking in the basement would stop. It's now Tuesday. Dave came in and kicked some butt and had the stems fixed in a jiffy. So yay. But the basement is still raining a bit. I don't know what that means, but I do know that it will cost to fix it. *Sigh*

Mustache update:

I hate this thing. I shaved off the rest of the goatee this last weekend. All I can say is that I can't wait to get rid of it. I'm getting a bit tired of people looking at me and thinking, "Wow, he's growing a mustache...does he know it's ugly? Hmm, I thought he was a bit more savvy." We're going to be taking our photo this Sunday. Can't wait.

Lan Party

So it's Friday today, so that is always a good thing. I wish every day could be Friday. Plus, we're having a LAN party tonight. For those of you who don't know what a LAN party is, I pity you. Here's a definition I found on google:

"Local Area Network Party. This is where a load of "cool" people get together in one place with their computers, connect them all together, and then have some fun! They are primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. Lan parties often go on for days on end, without sleep or rest, as teccies battle it out for the title of "teh win". ..."

Though I have to wonder about the term "cool." It must have been written in sarcasm. It should say, "This is where a load of nerds get together..." Anyway, I'm excited for tonights party. If you are interested in coming, or even participating online, shoot me off an email and I'll get you the details.

On another more serious note - Emily is right at that time where she has trouble with her pregnancies. See, Christine was born at 27 weeks, and Mary threatened to do the same. Em is right now at 28 weeks, and she's having contractions. Not a good sign. We're going to the doctor today to see what he says. Hopefully he'll figure something out.

MUSTACHE PROGRESS: (can you really call it Progress?)

Ok, so I already hate this mustache. I don't know how people wear them. It drives me nuts. Here's a picture to document the incredible growth. As you can see, I still have the goatee portion - so I created a very professional photoshop version of the photo to show what it might look like once I shave the goatee. I know, I should work for Cosmopolitan. It kind of looks like I have rubber skin, or suffered some severe burns on my chin.





Also - today I was able to get on the radio and say the word "corn poop." They hung up on me and got mad at the gal who is supposed to screen the calls.

Young Mens D.I. Activity

For young mens tonight, the boys planned an activity where we went to the D.I. to get some clothes, then we went to the mall to get shakes. It was hilarious. We got quite a bit of looks from people. And of course, boys will be boys - something about those outfits gave them an extra dose of confidence (it makes no sense), and they were hitting on every girl they passed. It was really funny. One girl that we passed said to her friend, "what day is it? Is it a holiday or something?"

So sad.

I hate these stories. We found out yesterday that this cute little girl, who is my oldest daughters age, went missing. It made my heart sink to think of what she and her family must have been going through. I don't know what I would do if that happened to my daughters. We said many prayers for her that she'd be ok and that her family would be comforted. We knelt down last night with my two girls and had a special prayer just for her. Then I found out this morning that she's dead. She was murdered for no reason by some soul-less thug. I just feel sick when I think about it. I don't understand why these things happen. I wouldn't know what I would say to help them. And how do I go home and explain this to my kids? When we prayed, I told them to use all the faith they had to help this girl. I just hate this. My only comfort comes in knowing that it is over, and that she's in a better place. So today's blog is dedicated to this 7-year-old girl Hser Nay Moo. May God bless her and her family.

Like Father Like Daughters

How can I not love a kid who's a fan?

I see more of myself in my kids every day.