I want to go in there!

Our granddaughter Lily was over here the other day for a visit. We are repairing holes in the wall in the guest bathroom, but every time the door is opened all the way, the door handle hits the wall. It keeps knocking a hole in the wall.

Lily just happens to be the same height as the hole in the wall. Her Mom, Brooke, found her looking into the hole. Lily said "Mom, I want to go in there". What makes an almost three year old tick? As I have thought about this, I realized that Lily probably has never opened up a wall and looked inside. She has never had to repair a hole in the wall. Lily has been around construction with her basement being finished, so she knows there is nothing inside there but empty space... or does she? I opened up the wall and took a picture inside. The next time she comes over I am going to show her what's inside. I hope that clears things up for her. When we play hide and seek, she is hard enough to find. I don't want her crawling inside one of our walls some day.

Debating the Merits of Soda Pop

During our Christmas Eve party at my Dad and Mom's home, I was intrigued to be sitting by my grandsons as they debated the merits of differing soft drinks. Cy and Sam were in a pretty heated discussion over which was better for you. Sam was pointing out how many grams of sugar were in different cans.

Cy was more focused on the sodium levels, but both were keenly aware of what they felt was good for you and what was not. They discussed carbonation, sodium, and sweeteners.

Andrew listened, but he really just wanted the stuff that made you BURP!

Pretty soon. even Laura was involved in the discussion. She had a way to measure which was best by some mathematical formula based on the various levels listed on the cans. I could not even imagine being their age and having this discussion. It shows that their parents have already started teaching their kids to be savvy consumers.

Me? I tried to get my son-in-law to go with me to the bars on New Years Eve and hoist a few Diet Cokes after our year without carbonated drinks. His answer? "Nothing doing, Pops. Didn't you learn anything in the last year?"

My kids and their kids are much smarter than me.

Seven+Up Night Before Christmas

 Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the house, our little ones played and acted like cows. It was time for our first annual Seven and Up Christmas Sleepover Party. We had our older grandkids over last Friday for the big party. The party almost fell apart when Max and  Isabel called to say they had to be somewhere else that night, but THE PARTY MUST GO ON! There's no business like kid business. Mindy came over 'cause she is the biggest kid of all. Tales came because Mindy came. We started with CHRISTMAS BINGO where one of the kids won a candy dispenser that "poops" Jelly Bellys. Mindy had the critter "pass" candy directly into her mouth.

 Mindy had swallowed the candy before she really thought about what she was doing.

 Christmas Bingo is a blast! We even played a blackout round. Laura won a snake that you put in the bathtub and it grows to be five feet long. Sam won a metal toy with a spinning wheel that lights up like a top. We used Cheerios for game pieces. It was a good choice - a yummy choice.

 We played some other games and had fun together.

 Here is a close-up of the candy defecating toy. Cute  - but just a little gross.

 Here is a sure sign that Elsie was here. She always organizes her toys and displays them - just like her mother, Heather did when she was young.

 A party wouldn't be a party without POPCORN! At least Janene doesn't think so.

 We decided to make a gingerbread house and decorate it with frosting

 and all sorts of gum drops and other candy type goodies.

 It wasn't long before the frosting process got out of hand.

 Kids will be kids!

 Then it really got out of hand. Tales had pulled a double shift at Tucano's and just wanted to sleep.

 Finally at about midnight, the sleeping bags were laid out and we all nestled into our beds at the foot of the Christmas tree.
The party was over after the kids had breakfast of pancakes (the Micky Mouse pancakes were a flop) but the remains were quite delicious. Dancing and singing their way out of the house, the kids all looked forward to next year which promises to be even better.

A Cautionary Holiday Tale

Our family has always had a tradition of lighting an Advent Wreath for the holidays. This tradition started in our family when we attended the Bountiful Community Church. Four Sundays before Christmas, we would start the wreath which has four purple candles and one white candle in the center. Each Sunday, we read from the scriptures about the coming of the Christ Child to the world. For our family, it has been a way to bring Christ into the celebration of the Christmas season and a way to demonstrate that all of the scriptures testify of Him. The final candle is lit on Christmas Eve when we read from Luke of the Savior's birth. I have been worried about the safety of candles, so we have modified this tradition in the past. This year, we felt like we could be responsible and actually light the candles. With no little kids at home, it seemed a little safer. Last Sunday, we lit the three candles and read from the scriptures. In the middle of this, Janene got a phone call from a friend, who needed her to drive up to Ogden and be out late. I decided to prepare for bed and go to sleep without Janene. While I was upstairs getting ready, the thought came to me "I should go downstairs and do the dinner dishes first. " I didn't want Janene to come home and find the house a mess, with work to do before she went to bed. As I opened the door to the living room,

I was greeted by the sight of the entire Advent Wreath in flames, and the entire top of the coffee table in flames, with the whole room engulfed in smoke, punctuated by the popping sound of the flames. I wished Janene was home, because she always knows what to do in these situations. She doesn't panic and remembers where the fire extinguishers are. I ran downstairs, grabbed the big plate at the base of the wreath and carried it outside into the snow, dropping little bits of flame on the carpet and melting holes in the linoleum. I then ran back inside and scooped up everything on the table in the silk table runner that was on fire and threw it outside. Then came the job of putting out all the little fires on the table top, carpet and floor. I spent the rest of the night cleaning everything up and making sure that everything was completely out.

I know that I did everything wrong. I did not call 911. I could have spread the fire worse in my attempt to put it out. I could also have been seriously injured in the attempt. I also know that the Lord works in strange ways when He wants to prompt someone. I never do the dishes. Who would ever think that prompting me to feel guilty about not doing the dishes would be a way to warn me about the fire? I am so thankful that we still have a home to live in. One minute later, and we would not have been able to stop the fire.

While it is embarrassing to let people know about my lapse of judgment, especially given my profession, I think it important to let all of my family know that there really is no safe way to have candles in the home. When it comes to fires, most people tend to think "Oh, how sad it was that Robin had a fire." The real attitude should be "Robin should have been more careful with fire." Most fires are caused by someone being careless with fire. They aren't really "accidents", since with care and proper concern, nearly all fires can be avoided.  Our Advent Wreath now consists of battery operated candles. And now I know that we don't really need the candles to be able to rejoice in the scriptural account of the coming of the Savior and of His role as our Redeemer

A Sad, Sad Day

Today was a sad, sad day in the history of the state. The Provo Tabernacle was destroyed by an early morning fire. Some time ago, I was called by the LDS Provo Facilities Maintenance Group and asked to help them with their fire alarm system. The system was very old and was not entirely functional. I helped them find a smoke detector to make it functional again, and made recommendations that the system be repaired. There was no immediate plan to replace the system, but they asked me to put together a budget to replace the fire alarm system for their future planning. Because there was no urgency at the time, I let the project slip and never put together pricing for them.

While surveying the building for a future fire alarm, I was amazed by the craftsmanship of the work inside. It was a truly beautiful building, with exceptional stained glass windows lighting up the richly carved pioneer woodwork. There was a famous Minerva Teichert painting inside and many other priceless works of art. I remembered that my ancestor John Watkins carved the intricate woodwork on the original Tabernacle pulpit. There must be many pioneers in heaven who are just sickened by what happened today. I am sickened by the thought that if I had followed through with the plan to put together a design for the fire alarm, someone may have been willing to spend the money to put it in. Ultimately though, fire alarm systems don't put out fires, they mostly save lives. Thankfully, it looks like no lives were lost due to the early morning nature of the fire.

And the answer is ....

Yes, this is one of our squishes from our garden. Janene had to get the pruning saw out because none of our knives were capable of even scratching the surface. Janene took one half and filled our oven with it. After she baked it, she scoured out the shell and made enough squash/pepper soup to feed an army, then put it in the freezer. We are going to have to have a ward party at our house to use the other half. The hammer was just there for moral support. And to think - we only have ten of these left.

Can Your Guess?

Bet you can't guess what this is all about!

What was Janene up to now?

Post your guesses, we will see who wins.

Family Night with a Christmas Touch

On the previous post Heather wrote about having the kids help decorate the tree, so tonight we had the Kearls come over and help us decorate the bottom three feet of the tree. Everybody helped, including little Caleb.

Some of the tree branches had five or six ornaments on them, but we had fun talking about how we got the alligator in the inner tube, and the accordion, and why the canoe with the writing about David was special. We talked about our first Christmas when Janene and I had only been married a month. We had no money, so we mail ordered a kit that included little wooden ornaments that we cut out ourselves out of mahogany and then hand painted every day until Christmas to make our first set of decorations. We were so proud of these cute little things.

After the kids went home, Janene did a little bit of adjusting (just to make sure the branches wouldn't be so overloaded that they broke)

I tried to get an idea of what a Christmas tree like ours looks like to a two year old kid. I realized that they can't even see the angel on top.

 The highlight of the evening was when Elsie turned off all the lights except the Christmas lights and then narrated the Christmas story complete with angelic visitations to Mary and Joseph using the children's nativity set that Brooke got us this year. The boys actually sat still for a few minutes and we had a small peaceful moment. There is something to be said about being old enough to be grandparents. They have all gone home now, and the house just a little too quiet. (nothing but little mice stirring under the couch.)

Only 41 Days Left Until Christmas

It's getting close to that time again. Christmas displays are out in the stores. Mindy said she heard a Christmas song on the radio today.

We always have lots of fun with the family around Christmastime. Janene and I both look forward to spending time together with our family.

Over the years we have done lots of fun things for the holidays. The other day, Brooke told us about one of her favorite Christmases. She said that we got together one Family Night and asked every child to write down his or her favorite Christmas traditions. Then, we did the things that year that the kids wanted to do.

Brooke said we had a ton of fun that year. It's kind of funny, but Janene and I don't really remember doing that with our kids. We thought we would do it again, though, because it sounded like such a good idea.

 So here it is - What was your favorite Christmas tradition? Did you have more than one? What should our family do together to celebrate the birth of our Savior?

 Give us your suggestions for fun family traditions and Janene and I will try to do some of them this year. Let us know what your favorite Christmas tradition was. Even if we don't do it as an extended family, maybe it will give you or someone else an idea for your own family. Of course, we look forward to Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpas home, but maybe we can do some other fun things together.

Good Morning, Bountiful !

Most mornings when I wake up, it is zero dark thirty, and I can't see anything out our bedroom door. We sleep with the door open every night. It makes for cool sleeping, with lots of fresh air, but most mornings, I just close the door on the darkness when I get up, and begin my morning routine. This morning, I got to sleep in (Saturday) and was awakened by the sight of the dawn light on the quakies next door. I know it is kind of weird to take a picture of what you see out your window from your bed, but I am a pretty lucky guy to be able to see this from my bed instead of some blank wall, or the side of the neighbor's house, or some other crazy sight. Now... we have a beautiful deck, comfortable chairs and nice view. It would be nice if I ever had time to sit out there and enjoy a minute or two. By the way - all those great autumn leaves? They blew away today.

Some people told me that I should have shown a picture of the fence that the two Phillips families put up last week. So here it is for all to see. It is wonderful to have such good neighbors. The guy who built the house next door, was the only guy I ever actually got into a fist fight with when I was in high school. At the time, we hated each other's guts. When he moved in next door, we had a kind of uneasy truce, but we hardly ever spoke to each other. The next guy to move in was OK, but we didn't really have much in common. When Brandon and Ashley moved in, it was good to have someone we sort of knew already. Brandon and his dad were the ones who played the bagpipes at David's graveside. Brandon's dad actually has the same name as our son - David Phillips. When our grandkids come over, they always run to the fence and ask if Jensen and Chessa can come over and play. Brandon and I have this thing we do whenever we see each other. One of us will say "Hey Brother Phillips, how are you?" The other will answer " Just fine, how are you, Brother Phillips? Then we laugh. We always laugh. Sometimes, you have to stop, stop and realize how blessed we are. It's not the big things. We aren't rich. We aren't poor, either. We are just rich in other ways.