July 5, 2009

I have missed a few days, but I surely was not going to miss making a record of our July 4, 2009 (They kept asking me if I knew the date, “July the 4^th” I said. “You think I would forget the date a horse kicked me in the head?”)

Grant’s first ride on a horse named “Paleface”, a birthday gift from Don to grandpa Lynn, a handsome and apparently good-natured animal as he toted Grant around the yard on his first equine experience. A few moments after snapping this picture, Paleface reared up and struck me on the left side of the head with a shoed front hoof. There were many witnesses, but none could offer any explanation for the attack. I was not moving or gesturing toward the animal and my camera was down at my side. It was quick, and for a moment I was unsure where I had been hit. Very soon thereafter, the streams of blood running down my forehead and off the end of my nose made the location of my injury apparent. I pressed on the top of my head in an attempt to slow the high volume of blood exiting the wound, but was unable. Someone came with rags and I knelt so they could put sufficient pressure to stop the bleeding, and when I removed my hands from my head to allow them to help, I noticed a large section of hair with scalp still attached was stuck to the blood on my left hand. Grant was thrown 10-12 feet away and upon landing on his feet in the grass, immediately popped up exclaiming, “I’m OK, I’m OK!”

I looked in his direction and realized that I had dropped the camera I was holding. My new 1Ds! I was about to ask someone to grab it for me when I became dizzy from the loss of blood. When I was stable enough to stand, I was loaded into the car and we headed off towards the emergency room. As we drove, Stephanie received a call informing us that Liam had just driven the motorcycle into the canal. There were no witnesses to the incident and he was required to drag himself out of the water and return to the house where he made himself a plate and began to eat his lunch. The accident was only discovered when one of his cousins asked why his clothes were wet.

I arrived at the local urgent care office in an attempt to avoid the hospital emergency room. The wound was deep enough to expose the skull and required about 40 stitches and staples to fully close. Graphic pictures were taken, but in the interest of keeping my PG rating, they will not be included here. Grandpa Mickelsen and Elder Richard G. Scott arrived to drive me home while Leanne and Stephanie went to fill my prescription for pain medication. Upon returning (the cleaning and closing of the wound took about 90 minutes) Elder Scott insisted that I receive a blessing. All my children were present (Leanne had not yet returned) and listened closely as Grandpa anointed and Elder Scott sealed and blessed. By the Apostolic power, he blessed me that though I had been cared for by medical professionals, the Lord would be the one to heal me and I would know it was performed by His power.

Now, children you were present and heard the promise as it was made, and I want you to remember it was fulfilled. From that moment forward I was completely unaffected by the accident. I required no pain medication, and suffered no discomfort. I experienced no pain and was completely normal, save the irresistible desire to run my fingers along the long line of metal staples. Remember how the Priesthood healed your father.

Don't bring me down, Bruce!

June 28, 2009

Speaking of Liam and his attraction toward the arts, today he wandered downstairs wearing a blue, golf shirt and walked into the kitchen for breakfast. I could not see him but I could hear Leanne making a weak attempt of scolding the boy. As she was about to burst in to laughter, she said as sternly as she could, “Go show your father what you have done.” He slowly walked over to where I sat, hiding the back of his shirt as well as he could. “Turn around and show Dad,” she said. He slowly and deliberately turned his back towards me. There in large, sharpie marker letters he had written:

“Don’t bring me down.”

I was a little puzzled a first, not understanding where a 5 year old would have picked up such an archaic phrase. As I pondered it for a moment, I realized that Liam was in agony, convinced he was about to receive the spanking of his lifetime for his blatant act of rebellion. The humor of the situation sprang upon me and I had to turn away to conceal my laughter. That was all Leanne needed to push her over the edge and everyone heard her snort with laughter from the kitchen. Do you know how hard it is to punish a little boy in this situation without showing your amusement? After all, he ruined a good shirt, right? Well, I was able to get control and mete out the punishment. He is to perform 5-6 extra jobs until he is able to earn the $3 he will be required to spend on a new shirt to replace the old one.

My kids are good students. Tomorrow, Marci will receive the presidential award for being a member of the honor roll every trimester she was eligible. Garrett has set a new school record for the amount of AR (advanced reading) points a student has earned. Marci ended up 3rd in AR points in the school and Chloe really earned a great deal of points in the last two sections. I told them that I would pay $50 for a 1st place in AR and $25 for a second place. Garrett earned his fifty, and Marci only came up a few shy of second place. We also made a goal with Chloe (I forget how many) and she reached her's pretty quickly. These kids are costing me a lot of money. I need to find a drawing book for the kids as they seem to have an interest in art. Marci has worked on a pretty good picture of a black widow, and Liam draws on every scrap of paper he can find, often it is not scrap paper at all, but important items of his mother's. He doesn't let the business of adults get in the way of his creativity.

June 23, 2009

Oh, man! Did you see what just happened? I missed a day already, only a little over a week into this deal and I broke it. I shall repent now.

I finished another class in my MBA program at the University of Redlands. This Saturday I start with the business finance classes for my emphasis. I struggled with the last class, Managerial Accounting. Coming up with the correct answer was not a problem, but understanding how to format and present the solutions was a difficult job. Everything seemed counter-intuitive and backwards. I started to get the hang of it towards the end. Up until this point I have had “straight A s” but I have a feeling my streak is about to end. Work has been frustrating for the past year, as I have been splitting my time between the Riverside and Redlands offices. The doubling of my workload has not been a problem, but the constant fight to stay on top of everything in one office while you are in the other has been a real stress to me lately. Thankfully, It is coming to and end in one more week. I have been asked to be the manager of the Redlands office. Everyone seems pleased with the decision. Phil has been manager of 5 offices, splitting time between them all and the stress has made him a little difficult to deal with. They are happy to see me come in. I do not totally understand the reasons I felt compelled to obtain my Masters in Business, but I think the doors it will open will be significant, even though I have no idea what they might be at this point. Don’t be afraid the change things up, even when you’re not sure why you should. You cannot picture the things the Lord has prepared for you with your little, limited vision. Every week, either Leanne or I will state something to the effect of: “Can you believe we ended up here, doing this?” We did not understand what were capable of doing. Don’t sell yourself short.

Now, I need to post another picture I have been working on.

There are no men as lucky as I. I cannot over emphasize your responsibility to choose the right spouse. A good one will make you better and bring you so much joy. The wrong one will not. Choose carefully. Who you fall in love with is your choice; you make it happen, it does not happen to you. Leanne was the right choice. I feel for all the men that must make do with lesser women.

June 21, 2009

I got just what I wanted for father’s day this year, all the things I asked for:

1. A #1 dad key chain from Marci

2. A refrigerator magnet picture of Garrett

3. A yellow rose boutonniere for my suit jacket from Chloe (the spell checker says that is the right spelling, I have no idea)

4. Liam gave me the book I wrote about yesterday

5. Grant told me I was awesome

6. My gorgeous wife took me out for a photoshoot

I will edit and post more from this shoot in the next few days. In other, not so pretty news, Leanne has taught the kids how to warp pictures in photoshop, so for a final present for the day, they spent a couple of hours creating this beautiful print in an 11 x 14. I have to say, when you look at their mother and father, it is no wonder the kids turned out the way they did.

I can just imagine Leanne almost wetting her pants with laughter as the kids performed their make-up jobs.

June 20, 2009

On the way home from the beach where we had gone to practice for a bridal shoot Leanne has next week, Liam asked me:

“Dad, can you pray forever?”

After thinking for a moment, I said “Sure, I guess you could pray forever.”

“Don’t do that!” he said. “You wont ever get anything done.”

June 19, 2009

Leanne has returned from girl’s camp. All were very happy to see her return safely. She related a few stories from her time camping with 4 leaders and 35 girls, most of the stories involved farting, which makes it sound very much like the scout camps I went to as a kid.

Liam’s kindergarten class made little books for their fathers for father’s day weekend. On the second page the kids answered questions about their dads.

Q: What is your dad’s name? A: Cyrus; Q: What color are his eyes? A: Green (the correct answer is blue); Q: How tall is he? A: He is 10 feet tall; Q: How much does he weigh? A: 34 pounds; Q: What is his favorite restaurant? A: He likes Subway food (not sure where that came from, he has been wanting me to take him there for weeks); Q: What is his favorite drink? A: Gatorade (true); Q: What color is his hair? A: Black; Q: How does your dad show you he loves you? A: He pushes me into the pool.

Both he and Grant have been going on about how boys don’t love each other, they like each other. So on the above question he crossed out the word love, and wrote in “like”. At least once a day, I overhear this statement: “Mom, I love you, but, I don’t love dad, I like dad.”

Now, the daily picture. Leanne makes the cover again in honor of her return to Menifee.

June 18, 2009
Chloe asked if she could make some brownies after she got home from school today. Then she asked if Charley could help her. “Fine”, I said. About 5 minutes later, I walked in on this:Can you see all the hair stuck to the batter on her face? No? Well, here is a close up:
Mmmmm, tasty. Such a sweet, dainty, and clean little girl.
Last night we ran out of diapers for the little princess, but daddy saved the day when I found a lone Spiderman swim diaper under the bathroom sink. Then I tore the straps while attempting to install it on the little girl. No worries, we stapled it back together and sent her off to bed with a full bottle of milk. This morning I discovered that swim diapers have very little to do with keeping pee on the inside. She was soaked from head to toe, but no matter, Daddy can give babies baths. I was cleaning the room as she splashed around. When I returned to check up on her, I saw that she had pooped in the tub and was about to grab it. I couldn’t get to her in time and she got a hold of it and began to raise it to her mouth. Finally I got a hold of her arm and stopped her from sucking on what turned out to be a wadded-up, brown, ponytail holder. I was relieved. No man would be able to live down the reputation that would result from his daughter eating poop during his watch.
Now, just to get your mind off of that horrible image, here is a picture I took of a baseball.

January 17, 2009
My job requires I visit nursing homes and convalescent centers on a regular basis and it is always an adventure. They are full the very old and the very unhealthy in body and mind. We I encounter someone in the halls, I often not sure who they are, meaning, do they have full command of their mental faculties or are they buried deep in the fog of dementia. If I am approaching someone in a facility and am not sure of their mental state a quick smile and a “hello there!” will usually make it clear, I can tell by they way they smile in response. The crazy ones have a distinct grin.
Sometimes it is harder to tell. For example, this is the conversation I had this morning as I was walking out of one of these homes to get into my car.
“Excuse me sir, are you the director here?” she said as I walked toward the door of my car. I usually wear a shirt and tie to work so it is not unusual to get this type of question.
“No” I answered, “Just here visiting someone.”
“I see. Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Is this car standard?” she asked pointing to my sedan.
I thought for a second and replied, “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You know, the transmission, is it standard or automatic?”
“It is an automatic.”
She shook her head, then said: “Sir, what you need is a standard, that is what you need. You need a Dodge Caravan, white, with a standard transmission. That would make your wife and children very happy. Oh yes it would.”
I paused for a minute, trying to decide if she was crazy, or if I was just lost. After a moment, I said: “That sounds like a great idea. Thank you for the advice.”
“Your welcome” she said. Then she gave me a big smile, laughed a little, and headed back into the building.
As I drove back to the office I could imagine her 20-30 years younger as her husband surprised her and her children with a new white Dodge Caravan with a standard transmission. I could picture her and the children piling into the new van and the electric excitement they all must have shared as they drove the new vehicle on its first trip around the block. “What a happy time to remember,” I thought. “What a joyful memory to be stuck in.”

June 16, 2009

First day without mother. Things went about as well as could be expected. I had to go do a hospital call in Fontana and the kids had Captain Crunch for dinner. Lets hope the phone stays quiet for the rest of the evening and morning.

I really enjoy editing pictures I have taken of Leanne and the kids. I was working on one of my first pictures I took with my new 1Ds camera.

There is something special about black and white. This still needs a little work, but when they are right, they are right. On some pictures the color seems to get in the way a little bit. It is as if the brain fewer variables to consider and is able to settle on the heart of the picture easier. That being said, I think I prefer this picture of dirty-faced Liam in color because of the green on his shirt (and the snot and chocolate on his mug).
Creativity is vital to happiness. Do what you like, piano, guitar, drawing, writing, painting, building, carving, planting, ect… and practice and experiment until you become good at it. People will often comment how talented I may be at one activity or another, but it doesn’t work they way they think. The real talents I have are frugality (in the sense that I hate to pay money for something I could do myself) and the desire to research and practice until I obtain competence. The assumption is that I am “gifted” or “a natural” but it is effort, learning and practice. All of you (my kids) should become good at something, or several somethings. It is much more fun than watching others.
End wisdom. Begin sleep.

June 15, 2009
Late night call to put a cervical brace on a drunken lady who peed her pants while I was there, twice. I love evening call at the hospital. Must send off my wife to girl’s camp in the morning. Charley was sad to have her mother give her away for a few days. I will rescue her Wednesday night. Now, sleep.

June 14, 2009

In the most recent General Conference, Elder Eyring mentioned that he was able to recognize the influence of the Lord as he looked back though his journal entries. He made the goal to never sleep without writing at least a sentence or two in his journal. Charley was subjected to her first real haircut today. The resulting bob made her resemble Marci so closely I spend the morning remembering all those fun days when marriage and children were so new. I expected her to say, “Oooo, buy dat!” or “do a moo-watch on the chowch”. I did a reasonable job of making consistent journal entries during those years, but have been lacking recently. So, for at least a few months I have put myself under the same requirement as Elder Eyring and will write no less than two sentences per day.

Cameras and pictures are still a very big part of what we do with our free time. Leanne receives pretty steady work as a photographer and has probably passed me up in skill level in the past few months, although I can still get a few good ones here and there. When I do, I will share them here. Our newest addition is a Canon 1Ds Mark II. When this is read by my family some years from now, I am sure they will get a chuckle out of our primitive equipment, but at nearly 17 megapixels, it is a marvel of technology. Canon’s newest cameras have passed it up at 21 megapixels, but they are much, much more expensive. We got an incredible deal due to it not being the current model. I think I am going to make your mother get dressed up and do some modeling for me this afternoon.

Starting commencement of begining again

Marci and I have entered into a pact more sacred than the pinky promise and the spit handshake. That is, that each party shall record their week at the end thereof, after which they shall exchange compositions and correct any error they may find in the other. The first question that may arise is if Daddy knows what a dangling participle is and how to avoid such amateurish mistakes. I am not expecting to receive much in the way of grammatical lenience, as the only recourse I have for an overly punitive review of my work is the withholding of a meager allowance, the proverbial drop in the bucket of babysitting money that flows to my oldest child like the riches of El Dorado. I can already spot 2 errors. I hope she goes easy on me. It is not easy to sneak things past her. She is, after all, a science fair finalist.

Our greatest day in this young year is the baptism of our lovely Chloe. She genuinely desires the things that are right. She asked Mark Davis to give the talk on recieving the Holy Ghost and all were touched by his sincere and heartfelt comments. I love to hear her sing and as of this moment I am enjoying the renditions of Wicked's "Popular" however, if the past is any indication of things to come, I may come to curse the name of the Davis girls who gave her the CD after I endure the 600th performance. "Popular. I know about pop-u-lar!"

Which do you prefer? Huricane or tornado, earthquake or volcano, Bonnie or Clyde, Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dumb, Firing squad or electric chair? I love this picture of my two little boys. The face of the eldest, serene and handsome while his backside hangs most the way out of his pants. Typical. The younger lifting his wall of sound to violently terrorize your eardrums. Firing squad and electric chair, kind of like both, twice.