New York - Central Park

On Sunday we took a taxi over to the Manhattan Temple, which is also partly a meetinghouse. After being surprised that it was closed for renovation, we were joined by two other couples that were there for business like us. The six of us took a van cab to the Upper East Side Chapel that was HUGE! As in, it was 3 stories tall, and beautiful! We enjoyed meeting many of the members, and then to my surprise, I saw a former T-Bird from Provo: Amber Daltzen! I hadn't seen her for years, so I was surprised that I even remembered her name - but it was fun just the same.

After church we took a stroll through Central Park, which was within walking distance. It was lovely. We picked out many areas that we had seen in T.V. shows or movies, most notably "Enchanted".

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Our Trip to New York

Last weekend Lisa and I flew out to New York for an Orthodontist as CEO conference. The meeting was brilliant, but experiencing New York City together was the real treat. The first day Lisa toured the city with my Partner in business's wife, Laurice Bankhead. I'll start by posting some of the pics she took while on the town

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Union Station (connected to the Hyatt where we were staying)

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Chrysler Building


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Carnegie Hall


That evening we went to our first, and hopefully not last concert at Carnegie Hall. The New York Met. Philharmonic Symphony was beyond belief! I was certainly glad that Doug Fox, an orthodontist friend, insisted that we purchase tickets. The music was all in honor of Leonard Berstein, which was so appropo, considering that West Side Story was set in New York. As is becoming the norm, I had tears streaming down my face during one of the numbers. I don't know if that sounds rather pathetic, but my tear ducts seem to have minds of their own.
My account wouldn't be complete if I didn't admit that I played a game on my ipod when the concert became a little boring for 20 minutes or so. At least I didn't get up and leave like the people in front of us. In short, I experienced a full range of emotions. The guys who sang the part of 'Tony' during the West Side segment was perfect. We were pleased that although he was from the Opera, that he sang without sounding like he came directly from the Opera House. Maria, on the other hand, was all Opera. Shame.
I got a kick out of the young man that played the lead 'Jet' during the chorus numbers. After the show we walked around New York by night. It was my first chance to see a bit of the city - Macy's, the Christmas Tree and Ice Skating Rink, the Chrysler Building, people sleeping on the steps of a church. Again, so no camera for that part, so let's skip to the next day when we went to Times Square after my meeting. Lisa had already been around town again that day, and toured part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was really cute because she was having so much fun. She is always cute, but I did take a mental note once again of how important it is to take Lisa away from the world of our wild boys, her calling as relief society president, the demands that my work schedule puts on the family, ME, and everything can cause stress in her life, and help her escape for a few days. I am SO glad that she suggested that we come home on Sunday instead of Saturday. We would have missed SO much!!!

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My Cute Wife at the top of the steps on Broadway and 47th


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Lisa and Rich - The place where the big apple drops on New Year's

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A doctored version of Times Square (with a building removed, and so forth). I didn't take pictures when we came back later to see Mary Poppins, but it felt like we had walked into the Celestial, or perhaps Terrestrial Kindgom. I really enjoyed talking to people on the streets there, tourist or local resident, and reveling in the ambiance of 20+ High Def screens that made up the walls of most of the buildings. It was NOT Vegas, which I detest. The people were having fun, but didn't have glazed over eyes like they do in Vegas. Nothing against the residents of Vegas, but it is a white trash magnet on the strip. This was more of a cultural magnet with more like minded people. Soon after our first visit to Times Square

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Here is our tour bus. The couple in front of us are from Colorado Springs, where my brother-in-law Spencer Elmore works. He is an LDS orthodontist who we happened to sit behind on the tour bus. Name?...I'll tell you later.

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We were very sad for this part of our trip. We spent time in the memorial building reading about the individuals that died that day. Seeing parts of the airplanes, parts of the building, items recovered, and notes posted by those left behind stirred a deep reverence - we were on holy ground.

Primary Program is Over...Let's go to New York!

Today we had the big primary program. I was on piano. I found out it was going to be me last week. It was tolerable, but not anywhere near perfect. I suppose songs like "Holding Hands Around the World" can only get SO good, even if they are played to perfection. I had fun watching Lisa crack up watching the Sunbeams. One little Sunbeam said that after we are baptized, we get the 'holy goat'. Got love the Sunbeams. I asked if it was our boys that were making her laugh. She said they weren't super animated - just focused on getting through the songs I guess.

There was a ward meal afterwards. Thomas sat down next to me with his plate full of nutritious foods: brownies, cookies, jello, and so forth. He didn't mind my taking on of the 4 large brownies he had stacked. Now you are probably wondering "Why didn't he go get his son some real food?" Well, he DID have some meat on his plate, and it WAS his second round. He had already eaten...something. I'm not sure what...But in case you didn't know, Thomas has the ability to consume large quantities of food for such a little guy. Parker is the ultra-fussy eater, and Scott is somewhere in between. I don't have to play Sports Announcer with Tommy, but he'll always play along if I have to do if for Scott and Parker. It's like this: "And here we are at the annual eat-athon, and the eaters are taking their places at the table. Oh, Bob, this isn't good, it looks like Scott is distracted by a lego on the counter! Meanwhile Parker takes a large bite! He's taking another! He's going to need a gulp of milk pretty soon here Bob, or he's going to choke! Speaking of milk, this moment was sponsored by Cream of Weber milk!" and so forth. You wouldn't believe how quickly they can finish their food when this technique works! It also provides me and Lisa some entertainment while we get through it, since the announcements are sometimes the funniest when the kids start to leave the table: "Oh, this doesn't look good at ALL Bob! It looks like Scott must have hit his head; he is walking off the field in the MIDDLE OF THE GAME!! The crowd is going nuts? I've never heard boos like this!"

Oh, here's a funny quote - I was driving the kids back from their Suzuki Lessons yesterday, and took a wrong turn. Scott and Thomas don't generally know, or care where we are, but when I took another turn into a neighborhood (because I was lost), my 4-year-old yelled out "Oh great, we're lost!" I had to laugh, and marvel. Was it that obvious? He already knows me too well.

We're reading Candy Shop War - it's a great cross-over kids/adults book. Very well written. We didn't realize that the author, Brandon Mull, was a member of our church until we were halfway through the first Fablehaven, and the way things were presented sounded very similar to the way that we explain the ideas of men being mixed with truth, then we read the cover in the back that says the author lives on a mountain next to a prison. It's like, 'Oh, Draper. Yes, he's a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints".

Lisa and I fly to New York this coming weekend with my business partner, Brent Bankhead, and his wife. Darren Rodabough would come, but his wife, Aaron, just gave birth to their fourth child. We'll be going to Carnegie Hall, Mary Poppins, and something else - we just haven't decided what yet. We'll be staying at the Hyatt that is on 42nd street - right in the heart of everything. I'm having a hard time believing it, since I've always thought it would be interesting to go, but never had a chance. Hope the kids are OK. A younger couple will be staying at our home with the kids. Students. Wow, we are getting older.

I didn't finish my last post, as both computer's power, and my power were running low. I will try to get pics up from Halloween.

Oh, Lisa and I raked up leaves yesterday. It is the first time we had a tree big enough in our yard to bother. Lisa had the awesome idea of using a tarp to move the leaves from the backyard to the curb, where the city is sucking up leaves tomorrow. For some reason, I'm imagining that vacuum with eyes from Teletubbies, which means I must be getting a little tired. Back on track, it dropped from the mid 70's down to the flipping 50's this week. Could we take the transition from nice weather to bad weather a little slower? Maybe we're being blanched. Lisa wondered why I needed that word. She's the cook, I'm the sou-chef...in traing. Ok, ok, I'm the clean up guy that comes in after the Head Chef has gone home for the night.

Right now: Lisa is reading the Friend magazine, probably for FHE ideas with Padme on her lap, Thomas setting the Risk board up in hopes that someone will 'play', Scott is cutting a box with kid scissors, and Parker is trying to practice his Cello. Oh, now a fight is breaking out, gotta go.

Nice Way to Start November

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We're loving the current weather here in St. Louie. It was a balmy 75 degrees for most of the Halloween weekend! Here are some pics of my cute little buddies on the Halloween weekend. Parker was a ninja, Scott was a Power Ranger (his perennial favorite


That sure beat the freezing cold we woke up to at the beginning of the week. Ah, the mid-west! If the weather was perfect, it would be perfect, and then everyone would move here, and then it wouldn't be perfect anymore. God bless the weather in the mid-west!

OK, so I was surprised when my local buddy, Jayson Christensen, told me that he went to High School Musical 3 with his wife and really liked it. Needless to say, Lisa and I went to see it last night, and it WAS very good! I never watched 2, as I heard it was lame, but thought the first show was tolerable, and even alright, but this was downright COOL, and I'm 35! And I'm not a big Disney Movie star fan, in fact, I can't name a song that Hannah sings. We got rid of t.v. long ago. Anyway, you get the picture. Go see it!

The first half of October, 2008

I have been having so much fun reading other's blogs, and posting photographs in my own, that I've hardly taken any time to WRITE. So, here we go.

The past week has been absolutely beautiful here in St. Louis. We've had sunshine with the temperature in the mid-70's. Lisa was completely wrapped up this week helping with a funeral - it was lovely today to have her HOME in the morning this Sunday. Her calling as RSP has underlined her devoted and responisible nature. I can't say that I'm always patient with it all, but understand that it is very small compared to what she endures as my wife, and all the things that draw my attention elsewhere. On Tuesday night this week, Lisa needed me to bring a few items to a funeral home that is just a bit south of I-70 on 270. A babysitter was already at our home, as she had to leave before I came home, so I decided to take Scott along with me, and leave the other two at home (who weren't interested in coming). After stopping by the funeral home breifly, Scott and I headed over to White Castle, which is only special because not everyone in our family likes it, so it feels special to those of us who do. Scott and I are the true fans of the funny little restaurant. Scott's eyes were sparkling with his smile as we ate. It was so refreshing to have him all alone to myself. He was his usual socail self, telling an older couple next to us various observations, turning back to me afterwards and carrying on, as if people are meant to interact as if we are all close family. I loved being with my best buddie, and knew I needed to write a short paragraph to preserve that moment.

A week earlier I took Thomas with me to a White Castle near our home. He was also happy to be there, so long as I ordered a chocolate shake for him to dip his chicken patty in. Hopefully I will get the little video of him acting silly off my phone and onto this blog. I soaked that time up as well, and had to hold Thomas's face in my hands a few times and stare at him to drink in how he looks right now. He is beautiful, but is growing and changing so fast, that I find the moment of 'now' a very refreshing place to be, every now and then. He smiled with chocolate shake across his lip, and would only let me do it for a few moments at a time. I remember the first time I learned to breath deeply to get into the 'moment of now'. It was so startling to me how beautful my world is when I am fully awake. We were in Valencia, planning to move out to St. Louis. Tommy, as I only call him to others anymore, not to him, as he prefers Thomas, was playing at the top of the stairs in his Robin Hood outfit. I had been listening to a CD book called 'The Art of Wakefulness'. That CD has changed my life. I mentioned the book at the beginning of this blog. There is more here, but I will have to say it later, as I'm still catching up.

Lisa posted our experience with the new musical "Emma". It was absolutely amazing. I wasn't the only guy in the room that was thoroughly entertained by the show either. I wrote on facebook that I was going, and had an old acquaintance offer his consolances. On the contrary, I think, it is only a sad thing that I can't go to a show that excellent every week. We SERIOUSLY may go again before the show closes. It is THE original cast for this new musical, featuring a cast that have been in the leading roles of Phantom, Les Miserables, and such. They were stunning. I never did get through the movie with Lisa as far as I recall, although she told me I had, I am sure I was sleeping by the end (or I have Alzheimers) because only the beginning of the story was familiar to me. As I write, Lisa is watching a movie about Jane Austen. This one came with the DVD "Sense and Sensibility" that BBC created. She is catching up on the feeling that her life is her own, as am I.

Brent Bankhead, my business partner, turned 40 on the 10th of October. I didn't know about his surprise party until a few days before, but decided to get photos from Laurice, and put together a slideshow of his life. I used Pinnacle, and put in about 12 hours. It was a mistake, as I lost sleep to the project and therefore was useless when Friday came, but the product was nice enough that I had to post it on YouTube.


The party took place at our staff meeting, with the arrival of our spouses, his parents, and others all part of the surprise. His sister, Michelle, who is married to previous partner John Firth, was also there. I was blessed enough to have 20 minutes of time to talk to her. I don't know how long she will be with us, and neither does she, as she has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, but she is touching many lives, including my own, with her attitude toward the cancer and her life in general. She had me in tears as she recounted how much she is valuing every day, and that she told her family that although she is sure that God could heal her, that her gift may be that she get's to know when she is going to die, and therefore has time to record her testimony. Her blog, is at firthfacts.blogspot.com

Woodchuck Chuck

There once was a young woodchuck named Chuck
Who would beg every day to his dad named Huck
"Could I go chuck wood? Could I chuck like you?"
"Could I go to the woods? Do you want me to?"

“You can’t come chuck,” said woodchuck Huck
To his woodchuck son little woodchuck Chuck,
“Oh, please Dad, pleeeeease!” said Chuck to Huck,
“I can chuck wood, I’m a BIG woodchuck!”

“But Chuck you’re nine! You’re out of luck!”
Said woodchuck Chuck’s brother woodchuck Buck
“The Woodchuck Rulebook says you’re stuck,”
“If you’re not TEN you can’t chuck, Chuck!”

“What’s wrong, Chuck?” asked quick quack Duck,
“I’m mad ‘cause my Dad won’t let me chuck,”
“I could chuck real good and you know I would,
“If the Woodchuck Rulebook said I could!”

“Can you Chuck me?” asked quick quack Duck.
“I could and would,” said woodchuck Chuck.
So woodchuck Chuck chucked quick quack duck
And the duck went spluck in the thick, thick muck.

“Chuck me next!” said Big Pig Ben
So Chuck chucked Ben from the big pig pen
Then Big Pig squealed “Weee! I can fly!”
And he came down ‘PLOP!’ in the slop, oh my!

“Chuck me next!” said the little grey mole
So Chuck chucked him, oh bless my soul
And grey mole squeaked, “I’m a SUPERMOLE!”
And he plopped on the top of his big mole hole.

Then the little red hen asked, “May I try?”
So Chuck chucked her to the big blue sky
And the red hen said, “Look what I can do!”
As she did a double-flip and a loop-de-loo

And the whole crowd cheered to the hen’s delight
‘Till they saw a fox and screamed with fright.
Then the little red hen clucked, “Don’t eat me!”
And Woodchuck Chuck cried, “Leave her be!”

Then the sly fox smiled and said, “Dear child!”
“Do I look like a crook or a beast from the wild?”
“Would I eat such a sweet little innocent bird?”
“Would a fox eat a chicken? That’s simply absurd!”

But the woodchuck said, “That’s a big fat LIE!”
“Go away sly fox, or I’ll make YOU fly!”
“You CAN’T chuck me,” said the slick sly fox
“You might get sick, I’ve got the pox!”

But woodchuck Chuck said “I don’t care.”
And he picked slick fox up in the air
And he chucked that Fox with all his might
As the fox cried, “Wait, I’m afraid of heiiiiiiiiights!”


“Oh, thank you, Chuck!” clucked the little red hen,
“You’re amazing , Chuck!” oinked Big Pig Ben
Then Chuck’s friends cheered, “You saved the day!”
“Three cheers for Chuck! Hip, Hip, HOORAY!”


Then back from the woods came woodchuck Huck
Who told his son, “You’re a hero, Chuck!”
“You can come chuck wood even though you’re nine.”
“You’re a great son Chuck, and I’m glad you’re mine!”


This whole book, though 'written' as it were, by me, is actually the product of many brainstorm sessions with Scott Wakefield, the brainchild and illustrator of the book, paired with my ability to rhyme. We started while I was in Orthodontic school at USC and he was attending Pasadena Art Center. As fate had it, he and his family moved into an apartment just below ours. Lisa and Kori became close friends very quickly, and Parker's best friend from age 1 - 5 was their little girl Aubree. Scott and I are also good freinds, but instead of shooting hoop with me, as he does with other friends, he shoots ideas with me. Together we turned his idea of writing a book that illustrated the toungue-twister "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?" into a full length story that followed the rhyme. He is an amazing artist, as you can see, so I am honored to have penned what will be his first big illustrated book. The Wakefields are in Logan now, where he is getting his masters degree. His thesis is to start with several styles of illustration, then select the style that we all like the best, and illustrate the entire book with that style. I am not an author, yet, but have always had a rhyming knack. We are on our 28th? edition of the story. I am glad to say that any change for ME and the writing from here forward will be very minor. He has the lion's share of work to do. He IS fantastic. Would you like a signed copy of our first edition?

Please let us know what you think of the styles! He is supposed to select by the end of October 2008. Please vote for YOUR top three choices. :)