Stephen Jones (the actor) does stand-up at BYU with the stand-up comedy club, Humor U. He did a bit in a stand-up show where he imitated the Old Spice guy as an old man; it probably sparked the idea for the commercial.
This video was written, directed, and produced by a team of students who work in the library. It was shot in the library on a Saturday. The students usually work recording lectures and supporting other campus projects.
A couple of months back we tried taking off Kalani’s training wheels, but she couldn’t balance that well without them. So after months of practicing we decided to try again. Seriously I just took off the training wheels and held on to the back of her seat for 5 seconds and she was then riding by herself. She was so proud of herself that she showed all of the neighbors that day and always wants to be outside “practicing”.
Tia and I wanted to do something fun and spontaneous on Memorial Day weekend, so at the last minute we decided to hop on a plane to surprise our brother Jon, serving an LDS Mission in Denver, Colorado.
Tia and I both served missions about ten years ago (El Salvador and France) so we know what it’s like to be so far from family and friends for an extended period of time. Contact from family is usually restricted to letters and two phone calls a year (Mother’s Day and Christmas).
We arrived on Friday morning and spent the day at the 80 acre, world famous, Denver Zoo. The exhibits did not disappoint, and my personal favorite was obviously the reptile collection (they even had some large Komodo Dragons).
Friday night we drove to Jon’s address and surprised him by knocking on his window at 9:30pm (the missionaries live in the basement of a host family’s house). He was definitely shocked (and happy) to see us show up out of the blue and we made plans for Saturday night dinner.
Saturday we spent a good six hours at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Here we watched two iMAX productions: Hubble and Arabia. It was my first time in an iMAX theater and both shows were well worth it. The rest of the time was spent at the many exhibits. Kalani’s favorite was Gems & Minerals. Like his dad, Mason really seemed to enjoy the Wildlife Exhibits. There’s a video below of him walking around chanting crazy Polynesian war cry.
That night we picked up Jon and his missionary companion and took them to Olive Garden for a relaxing dinner. It was really fun to catch up and hear more about his mission (he doesn’t offer much detail in his emails). He’s definitely matured a lot and looks great.
At the airport waiting for the car rental shuttle
Jon's first time meeting his nephew Mason
Moments before the surprise knock on the basement window
A herpetologist in the making
Below we see Mason’s Hawaiian side make an appearance as he bellows his ancient Polynesian war cry.
As some may know Matt and I decided to homeschool Kalani this past year…and we/I survived! It wasn’t that bad or that big of a transition. Well, I guess the biggest transition was throwing a baby (Mason) in the picture.
I joined a local homeschool group (Cypress Homeschool Association) and LOVED meeting new people through that. These ladies are on top of things. We participated in a Halloween Trunk or Treat, Thanksgiving Friendship dinner, Christmas party and a Co-op every Monday. There were other activities, but we didn’t or couldn’t attend. I also had Kalani involved in a homeschool singing choir (Super Singers) where she got to perform for friends and families and also sing to the elderly in assisted living locations. And she also was in an Art Club and Book Club. Let me tell you that this homeschool child is NOT socially awkward!
Halloween Trunk-or-Treat
Santa visited the kids at the Christmas Party
Kalani's mask from Art Club
Book Club Activity
Super Singer Homeschool Choir
I think that Kalani enjoys staying home with me…I know she likes to sleep until 8-9am. Then we are done with school before noon. If she went to the local elementary school she would board a bus around 8am and wouldn’t get home until after 4pm. I just think that is too long of a day for a child. Besides, she gets all (or at least most) of my attention during our “school hours, ” and we can take field trips all the time. We have also met some fabulous friends through CHA and church members who homeschool. If you want to homeschool, Texas is the place and I found the perfect niche.
Earlier this year a co-worker recommended The Hightaway on the Guadalupe as a great place to take the family for the weekend. After some online research I proposed the idea to the Larsens and Hansens as a long weekend vacation. Everyone liked the idea, so near the end of April we rented both the Hightaway and the Hightout from the owner, Stephen Hight.
These two houses sit on the bank of the Guadalupe River, north of San Antonio in Center Point, Texas. The furnished accommodations come fully equipped with canoes, inner tubes, life jackets, bbq grill, fire pit, swing set, rope swing, etc, etc. The fact that everything needed was already at the house made for a very relaxing vacation.
We spent most of our time on the water, in the canoes, playing on the rope swing, etc. From campfire s’mores to tubing down the river to throwing a big lizard on Makana, I can safely say that everyone had a great time!
We surprised Makana with this friendly visitor (lizard in the lower-left)
Matt and Jake practicing for their circus act
Families are Forever! (...or... "Our Family Tree")
The shirt says it all
The Incredible Hulk made an appearance
This pretty much sums up our weekend
The property had a great kid's playground on it
Kalani and Olivia posing for the camera
And finally, a video of McKay surprising me and Kalani:
