Traveling Route 66

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Thomas shows his enthusiasm for Hick's Bar-B-Q, which is another landmark on old route 66. It's fun to find places that were on route 66, such as this one, back in the 40's-60's era. Tommy (as we like to call him, although he objects when asked if it's OK), is our best eater. He can clear his plate as quickly as most s. Faster than mom for sure! Dad, well, he only tastes his food when the first bite gets stuck in his throat, and he takes a second bite anyway. (j/k)
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Yep, it's good to know where to go for the Ozark's finest smoked meats. I photoshopped Scotty to be in between us. He was being a turkey, standing behind my left. Can you see that his arm doesn' look right? It also looks like there is an invisible person standing next to me where he was. I didn't know what to do about his missing right arm, so I just gave him a long sleeve t-shirt for his right arm. I figured nobody would notice, but now I had to go tell you and spoil it!

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What, don't you take your dog with you when you go out to dinner? This is Missouri! Besides, she's my seeing eye-dog. If they ever ask why I have a spaniel for an eye dog, I just say "What? They gave me a SPANIEL?" Seriously, we were on our way to the Tuckers in Joplin. Padme handles the ride very well. She scored big time after this meal when Scotty didn't want to eat his ribs. In the background is a ceader woodshop that made this whole area smell great!


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Scott was timid about photos at first, but when we said he could keep the fork and knife in front of his face, he brightened up and let us take a bunch of cute pics. Scott is the kid who can make anything into anything (in his mind). He sees a fork, like anyone else, but his mind is saying "Antennae! No, sword and staff! No, surfboard and comb! (etc.)"
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Photos of the New Home (As Promised)

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Parker is sitting in a chair that we found in the trash in California. We can't seem to part from it! The wood lit up nicely in the picture. Unfortunately, it's not at all that red looking most of the time. We are lucky that our home backs to a river, in most regards, as that means we have a thick wall of trees that makes our backyard look like a wilderness (when there are leaves).


This is the room that made my eyes pop when we first went through the home. The windows bring in a TON of light in the morning. I often sneak into this room before anyone is awake, strrech out of the floor, read some scriptures, or just vegitate on the couch (usually with my feet up the couch, where the typical person would rest their head). It's my meditation room. Medicate, then meditate - that's how mornings work best.


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This is a typical evening scene: Parker navigates the computer while Scott sits next to him, and then there's Thomas in his underwear. They are in the former dining room, which we use as a study, and will someday put some typical study doors (lots of glass). In the foreground is our Family room, which has only one place to sit right now: at the piano. You can see the typical pileup of music and folders on the piano, since we don't have a bookshelf in there yet either. It's very acoustic in this home. My guitar is hiding behind my amplifier.


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The stairs are beautiful. I love all the wood in the home. The stairs are just to the right of the entrance. They are so much easier to clean without carpet!


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Posting June in July

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Whew! Did June really disappear so soon! I just read my Dad's blog, and subsequently Amy's and Chrissy's. (Not to worry other siblings, I'll catch up with yours as well), and had to start 'write away'. My June geek hours were consumed with a website I created for my Bountiful class of 1991 through NING. It was really easy, and went from 3 members, to 85 in one month!!! I'm suddenly with all my high school friends, and many that I didn't know then that I am getting to know now! It's a TON of fun! Now that I know how to edit and publish my videos (editing through Pinnacle software couldn't be easier), I have posted several home videos that I will post here as well. I also started creating a version of Gus that is intended for my class website, and YouTube, made from slideshows of chipmunks, a few of them as flat as pancakes. LOL!!!!! Lisa made me edit out the guts with Photoshop to keep it G-rated. LOLOL!!! Is it a sin that I myself up? It isn't really ME ing myself up, it's Gus! Poor little buddy. Matt posted "Gus the Chipmunk" on YouTube, which is a little sad, since the version is old, and we didn't know the song very well, but it opened my eyes to what I can do with it today.

Yesterday we bought a membership to Riverchase, a city-owned fitness resort that stands at the top of a big hill. It's like the temple to fitness and fun. I can't believe we've lived in Fenton for 3 years and are JUST NOW becoming members. Never mind though, we love it. So far we've only been swimming. They have one of those pools that is like a kids playground surrounded by water. Tommy and Scott couldn't get over the water slides, while Parker took more fondly to the lazy river. Scott is over 4 feet now, and is able to take the big water slide. Watching him speed walking (running slow enough to not be whistled at by a lifeguard) over and over and over reminded me so much of Joey and myself at Trafalga so many years ago. It was a hilarious site, since he had florescent green goggles on, and a huge grin on his face. He went down 18 times. I think that was how many times we could go down the Trafalga slide for $5.00. Remember that Joey? What a up. Tommy was just as happy to do a short slide (with water and all), but not with the intensity of Scott. One of the times Tommy had turned sideways somehow, and came out somewhat upside-down-kiddy-wampus (sp). He couldn't get his feet for a moment, which scared him for about 15 seconds, after which he wiped his face, got a big grin on his face, and started running for the slide again.

On the way home, Parker made up his own version of the silly sign I told him about which reads: "Notice there is no 'P' in our 'OOL' ". He said "Welcome to our 'L', notice there in no 'POO' in our 'L'. Please keep it that way!" That is the epitome of Parker. He loves to be witty, and loves to share funny, clever phrases. He's been telling jokes since he was 2, only they didn't make any sense back then.

June was the month we discovered how much fun biking as a family can be. We are lucky enough to live a block from a HUGE park, second only to Central Park (j/k). It is large though, and has a well kept bike trail that we LOVE to ride. It is enough exercise that our kids have fun, yet get pink in the cheeks when they are through. For the past several F.H.E.s, we have ridden to one of the pavilions, had our lesson, then played on the swings and slides afterwards. For all the unfortunate parts about the mid-west, the green trees, beautiful parks, and gorgeous weather from March through mid-July, then September and October make up for so much.

Right now the sun is starting to rise behind me, painting patterns of leaves on the study walls and wood floors. We found and purchased this home in November, not fully knowing how much we would appreciate the surrounding land, and the favorable orientation and design for bringing light and green beauty into the home, until Spring. I wast finally able to download picasa2, which will make posting some pictures easy. They are posted at the request of Dad, who has been dieing to see it.

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A missionary in our area has ambition to become a concert pianist. We have spent many happy hours listening to his incredible talent, as he has spent many hours enjoying our Kawai. He plays 95% classical music, most of which I am familiar, but am not used to hearing live. As the floors are wood in most of our home, the music can be heard very clearly from any room. His ability has inspired me to focus on building my skills, as I have so much desire, and seeming potential, yet am limited to "Maple Leaf Rag" and church Hymns.

We spent a weekend in Joplin with the Tucker's and Lisa's mom for 'Check to Radiator Day' on June 21st. While in town we watched "Kung-Fu Panda" or whatever it is called. It was funny, but didn't have 1/10th of the impact on me as WALL-E, which I watched with my wife and family the following week. What a wonderful, heart warming film. I never imagined I could fall in love with a film about two little robots. His little collection reminded me of my Grandpa Reimschussel. I was pulled to memories of high school by all the clips of "Hello Dolly" that WALL-E watched from a VCR he found among the trash he was built to clean-up on earth. The little robot also reminded me of Scott, who loves to collect and make use of just about anything in the house. If you are missing something, just ask Scott. It may take some time to extricate the item from the tape and wires, with which the item is now enveloped, but he'll show you where to start the process. One day in June we was working away in the rather hot garage at his workbench, , as he typically is, when I opened the door to see what he was up to. After a few moments he asked me to please close the door, as he was starting to get cold! When I asked him "Scott, why do you like to build things so much" he told me that he likes to imagine that he in an inventor, and that everything he creates becomes what it is designed to be. Oh, I just love the smile that shines out of our little Scotty sunshine when we is talking about one of his passions. Yesterday he sang a new version of a song I learned at about 5 or 6 from Vickie Pratt or Becky Butler: "I had a little Teddy Bear, it's name was ....???, I put it in the bathtub, to see what it would do...etc." His face was so cute while he was singing, that I had to kiss it twenty times after he sang it for me.

Well, there's more, but I'm tired. Man, why did I wake up so early? At least I got my blog in. Finally! Now for the pictures!

Life in May - Father's and Sons, Memorial Day, Denver AAO meeting

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I was delighted to be camping with my three boys this weekend - most of the time anyway. The first hour Tommy soaked his clothes in a shallow stream while Scott ran off on his own for a while. After making sure Tommy was fine (and he was actually happy to be soaked!) I found Scott in our van. He was looking for a new pair of underwear. Ok, so that was an example what happened when we weren't having a flawless, serene time in the beautiful outdoors as the men of the family. One little valium and everything got so much better.

After delicious BBQ pork sandwhiches with the boys on the grass, we had mutiple servings of Bankhead Cobbler: peach, cherry, blueberry...we had to try them all of course! Scott was hit in the mouth with a football, which dislodged a loose baby tooth, which he proceeded to show everyone. I had a blast playing the Photo-journalist for the event. I will post the pics when he showed it to the bishop. SO FUNNY! Oh, that reminds me, I have to get a dollar under his pillow tonight! Whew! He bought that the toothfairy didn't leave anything since it was in my pocket instead of under his pillow. I totally forgot about it. In fact, I was so tired when I put the boys to bed at 9:30 that I fell asleep with them! I never realized how much good a good sleeping matress can do you when camping!

Just now when I took the tooth in to Scott, he asked me to write a note asking the Tooth Fairy for $7. I told him I didn't think we should tell her how much to leave. He disagreed, but changed the asking price to $4. I put my hand on his chest while he spoke to me, loving to feel his little heart beat and watch his big blue eyes look around the room while he pondered how to get the most for his tooth. This is clearly a BIG event for Scott. I'll have to make this one stand out somehow. Maybe I should appear to him as the toothfairy at 3 am. Parker used to beg me to set the video camera up so that he could catch her in the act.

Today after sacrament meeting Parker and I went with the scouts of our ward, and all of St. Louis for that matter, to decorate the veterans graves with american flags. It was great for Parker to have to do something that was much harder than he expected. By the time we were done he had probably walked close to 3 miles, which for Mr. doesn't get outdoors very much was a long, LONG way to walk. He complained of boredom and fatigue, and then RAIN for the first 2 hours, but then he snapped into "Wow, this is really fun!" mode. I got that one on film too - look for the change in his expression once he has the flags. You can see that he is worn out in the photo with me. Parker loves to DO things, and is always excited about Scouts. Thank goodness we followed Lisa's advice and brought snacks. Too bad I didn't bring Pancho's like she had suggested. Aw, the rain was part of the experience - getting soaked, feeling irritated, then getting over it and realizing that it doesn't matter unless we decide it matters.

Last weekend we did a movie day for our patients, minus the Columbia Illinois office. Lisa and Parker went to 'Prince Caspian', which we had in 3 theaters, while I watched 'Horton' with Tommy and Scott in another. I'll post those pics if I can get them from Jill's online photos. She took some awesome pics.

I flew out to Denver that night with Darren and Brent to go to the AAO (Amer. Assoc. of Ortho.) conference. There were severeal highlights for the event: 1) Having dinner with two former classmates: Jerry Johnson (and his wife Julie), and Cheryl Berkman (Golden). SO good to be in the company of true friends from the past. Amazing that the Johnson's have 2 sets of twins. 2) Making amends as best I could with Dr. Barbakow, my former potential employer. It felt so good to tell him thank you for trying, for understanding, and after he gave me a hug, for forgiving me. 3) Having Lunch with Brent and Laurice, along with their niece and her former fiance, Scott McClean, as in the son of Micheal McClean. This was a different social joy - it felt good to be with Thespians again. In fact, he had to take off a fake mustache before eating. Funny that I met his Sister on a double date at BYU that took us to his home in Heber years ago. I tried not to act like a groupie, but he was so willing to entertain any questions, that I felt completely at ease asking whatever I wanted.

My kids love that I reassembled the trampoline in our new backyard. Their favorite game as of late has been 'Doh Doh Bird', where I act like a confused DohDoh, and chase them to get back in their eggs. Tommy and I started the game last Saturday. Parker and I have been playing Risk.

I've been stuck in a book called "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer, which I will no doubt read after I finish posting. I only have 100 pages left. It's been fun. Lisa finished it so much more quickly than me that I've been wishing I had made her wait. We have different sleeping hours most nights of the week.

Miraculously Flame-retardant

We had to say some serious prayers of gratitiude today, that our home and family did not go up in flames last night! This morning at breaskfast my dear six-year-old opened the kitchen cupboard to show me that a candle was still burning--inside the cupboard--that he had lit last night without anyone else knowing! Really, it must be by the grace of God that nothing bad happened. There are two faint brownish spots on the shelf above where the candle with three lighted wicks sat burning for probably 10 hours. That's all. Amazing. I thought I was grateful for my family before, but something so nearly catastrophic makes you feel it all the more. And I guess some things are going to have to be locked up since he seems to find any hiding place for dangerous items.

My Birthday Blog

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Well, it's true - I am half of 70 years old now. It's been a great week, and month, so I will try to catch you up on the good and interesting stuff. We'll start with the recent and then go to the past. On Wednesday when I came home I noticed a new baseball mit with the other three - a lefty mit for Scotty. I immediately knew that my birthday wish had come true, for if Lisa had been to the Sports Authority, it wouldn't have been to buy a mit, but to get a PING PONG table! Since bringing it home, we have been having a very nice time playing, or, whatever you would call what we have been doing. Lisa and I got a chance to play without the kids on Friday night, and what we thought would be a few minutes of volleys turned into 15 minutes of enjoyment. How nice! Thanks Lisa!!! The boys were hilarious about trying to keep it a secret. Scott said, "We got something for you, but I'm not supposed to say what it is". I could tell that it was going to get out fast, and that it would utterly frustrate Parker if it did, so I helped it out. I said "Oh man! We are never going to get a Ping Pong table" at dinner, to which the younger two said "We did!" I feigned misunderstanding several times, then as soon as Parker was affirming the same thing, I yelled "Yahoooooie!", and did a victory dance. It was fun to make them giggle.

Parker woke me up (too early) on my birthday to play more Ping Pong. I was annoyed, as it was my chance to sleep in, but glad that he wanted to play more. We have played the most of anyone in the family so far.

Scotty loves it too, and usually shows the most coordination in a sport, but is trying to slam it a little hard, and is a little short for the table. He has also stuck a nail through one of the balls already, which he attached to the fridge with a magnet, and will probably add it to one of several creations that are always in the works. His latest is a robot mask made from a box, that now has an old lawnmower starter on the top, with wires and washers, drawings, quarters, plastics spoons, and screw eyes. I think that when he looks at it, he sees with both his real eyes, and his imagination eyes. He has an instinctive builder type of personality. I wanted to start calling him 'putty', but Lisa didn't like it. Although he is like the Tazmanian Devil at times, he is also a very sweet, cuddley little buddy too.

Tommy is fun to watch play sports. He jumps up and down between swings or rolls. With ping pong, he gets frustrated with the paddles, so he just throws the ball to serve, then runs around the table with the paddle, and chases the balls when they go out of bounds. He is the one that is particular about things being put away correctly at the end of the game.

Tommy, or Thomas as he prefers, STILL asks me every day "What did Mittens do today?" If it wasn't so much fun to hear him laugh, I would have stopped telling the stories. He is very excited about going to preschool next year. On Thursday I took some great pictures of Tommy with 'my' new camera, while we were at a 3rd grade music performance. I would have more pictures of Scott, but he wanted to TAKE the pictures rather than be in them. I also have pics of the rest of the family, including Parkers stellar, albeit stoic, performance. The best moment was when they started to sing "An Austrian Went Yodeling", and he gave us, especially Lisa, a big smile, as this is a song that Lisa taught him many years ago.

My Birthday was very nice. Lisa made a German Chocolate cake - I will attach a picture, as it was beautiful. I love my wife. She is trying to go to sleep here next to me, so I am going to use that as an excuse to wrap things up. Goodnight!