25 things about me

Darren here. I've been tagged by my dear sister to say 25 things about myself. I mocked hers, so I deserve it. Anyway, here they are.

1. I like digging under my sister's bed to unearth stuff not seen in a while. Must be the archeologist in me.

2. I love biographies. Not the type about 24-year old superstar athletes. I mean the type about people who've done interesting things and made good decisions.

3. I'm generally not picky about food.

4. I don't enjoy traveling, but enjoy being there.

5. I am addicted to Chess Titans. I can't beat it beyond the easy level and don't want to put the effort in, but I like winning at the easy level.

6. New.familysearch.com is awesome! When I'm tuckered out at night and have a half hour free, I like to go to join some geneological records. Must be the historian in me.

7. I don't watch TV much at all. No favorite shows.

8. I think I'm slipping towards being a vegetarian. It's not conscious; meat doesn't appeal to me as much as it used to and it's expensive. Don't worry, we do eat it occasionally.

9. I like to play basketball on Saturday mornings.

10. My hair is really long. It's one and a half inches long except in the back (no mullet). I need a haircut.

11. My wife likes my hair long. She thinks of me as Braveheart.

12. I'm sort of ambidextrous. I can bowl just as badly left-handed as right-handed. I write left-handed and shoot the basketball with either hand.

13. My natural tendency is to be too judgmental. I have to consciously hold back so I don't stick my foot in my mouth.

14. People think I'm smarter than I am. I don't know why this is. It's something about the way I say things, but I'm not sure.

15. I like stupid jokes. Like this one: What do you get if you drop a piano down a mine shaft? A flat minor.

16. I've always been very introspective. I am always wondering why I'm like that.

17. I hated washing dishes as a kid. I was awful. I don't mind so much anymore. We now have a dishwasher.

18. I've been called as scoutmaster 4 times. I'm really not very good at it, especially the "outdoor skills" piece of it. I will someday "get it" and will move on to another calling.

19. I like Wikipedia. I'm lazy, so it is a good way to find out about anything without too much effort.

20. I like geography. And physics. And etymology. And mnemonics. And fractals. Like this one. What is it?

21. I really love going to church and have a strong testimony, but I have a hard time sitting through any class over half an hour. I am so fidgity.

22. I like to sing. I'm not the best, but I was in choir from when I was 5 until I was 24, not counting my mission.

23. I love to play Legos. I'm glad I have four kids so I have an excuse to buy myself Legos from time to time.

24. I'm nonsequitur.

25. It drives me nuts when anyone says 25 things in a row all about themself. Narcissistic.

Now I tag my dad, Mark, Heidi, and Dale.

The usual

Our excitement lately has consisted of

sickness (no more of that, thanks),

sharing times (now I get a few months off),

scouts camping (someday, we'll be the ones to camp and hike with our MAN),

running (the eight-year olds both did their BEST in a recent race, the rest of us just dash all over the place for fun!),

awards (Student of the Month--Natalie, Bobcat badge--Christopher, Mr. Energy--Andrew, Mr. Tantrums--David),

looming layoffs (we'll keep you posted on that lovely topic),

music (we love it so much Andrew will even get to start a class soon--busy, busy),

gardening (we had to give away broccoli we had so much, tangy tomatoes, tall peas, arugula--think rocket--and lettuce, and now we're adding more for the coming season, whatever season it is can be hard to tell),

school (it's fun, we're all learning and it keeps us social!)

food (it consumes much of our time and thoughts--think Pork Barbacoa Salad Cafe Rio-ish--for our FHE Bemarlyes who brought chocolate cookies--and homemade Rocky Road Ice Cream last time (let us know if food can be the way to your heart;), Cranberry Muffins, Roasted Ratatouille, Vegetarian Chili, Monster Chip Cookies, Corn on the Cob, Tamales, Fruit Salad, --come eat with us! :)

It's mostly just the typical good stuff going on here! We hope it's the same with those who read this!

The Outback birthday party

Make a Smilebox slideshow

In our house, we don't do a friend party every year. It's usually enough of a party with the six of us. However, the twins have had ideas forming for a birthday party for months; unfortunately, they were born in an extremely busy month for our family. In order to fulfill their birthday imaginings properly, we had the party on a calm Saturday when we didn't have the usual busy-ness and friends who were in town could come play. They wanted to do something together out in our backyard; a feat that could be accomplished "Down Under" where it's summer right now, and thus our Outback party came to be.

I worried that they would have so much excitement planning everything, and the actual day would be disappointing. It seemed that it all lived up to their expectations, and most everyone seemed to be having a blast. I didn't post pics of the thirteen party guests (I don't have their parents' permission and it's not worth the trouble), but just picture the mayhem and sillyness for two full hours with cute kiddos of differing attention spans. Some of the kids were still telling their parents every detail today, one of my friends said. I am just glad it's another thing I can check off my list.