Sea Creatures

I found this lurking, unpublished, on my list of blog posts. It's ridiculously old now, but sea creatures are worth the wait.

This last one was meant to illustrate how long it takes to catch a fish in Alaska...

The Moves

They get their moves from their mother.

Then again Scott has some pretty awesome moves too!

Getting Credit

My super-talented, soon-to-be-famous brother Durd just got his footage onto a nationally televised news program a few weeks ago. The footage came from a documentary he and his partner shot in India, and it was pretty cool to see it on television.

Me and Old Spice Man

I've recently discovered that I am somewhat culturally illiterate. Most of my problem stems from the fact that I don't follow the latest trends on You Tube.

My siblings, friends, and coworkers have been trying to pull me out from under my rock.

Which brings me to my new friend Old Spice Man. I realize I'm ridiculously behind on this--I mean BYU and Sesame Street have already been capitalizing on this genius--but I thought I would post these.

Well, this one was my favorite.

Oh my gosh.

And then tonight, I found this one.

It's pretty amazing advertising when your audience is actually willing to search out your commercials online...

4th

She saw most of the show.

He didn't.

Blanketeers

My sister and her family came up to visit for the 4th of July. Her kids are stinking cute. And, like so many of the kids in my family, are particularly attached to their blankets. (I should know, I had mine around for a ridiculous amount of time.)
Fortunately, my sister has also taught her children to share...

Grand

This morning my dad took my niece and nephew fishing. Moon Fry came inside screaming about how she caught a huge fish. (It was a perch.) Mowgli came back with obvious streaks of sun screen all over his face.

Currently, Moon Fry and Mowgli are in the kitchen with my mother. They are cooking up a batch of "brains" with the Dr. Dreadful Laboratory Set.

Oh, yeah. My parents are "cool" grandparents.

Brothers and Sisters

This one is a nothing more than a quick shout out to my siblings. Thank you for being the kind of people who know how to keep it interesting.

Norman (plus me)

Foreesto

Durd (plus Norman)


Sunshine

And here's to passing it on to the next generation...

I can definitely see the family resemblance.

Sweet Moolah

Something to be happy about:

Today I was at the bank. While I was waiting, I overheard a banker on the phone.

"Hi, this is (So-and-So) from the (Such-and-Such) branch. I'm sitting here with a very honest customer. When he tried to pull out 40 dollars in cash this morning, the ATM gave him 300 dollars instead. The difference is not being shown in his account..."

Hooray for that guy! Hooray for honest people who give back the extra 260 dollars!

I sort of felt like shaking his hand.

More Things to be Happy About... Being Rescued by Knights in Shining Levis

I originally started this blog for my 52 Blessings Project. And since I finished the project, I haven't been back.

However, I thought it would be good for me to reinstate the gratitude a bit. So here we are! The new and improved Jonas Chronicles!

And here is today's story:

I've been having trouble with one of my tires lately. It went completely flat two weeks ago. Despite our best efforts, Russell, the school custodian, and I could not get the tire off the car. (Yes, we jacked it up and removed the lug nuts.) The good news was that I had an electric air pump. We filled the tire and then drove to the closest store that did car maintenance. They checked the tire, told me there was no hole, and sent me on my merry way.

A week later, the tire was low again. The guy at the tire place had said he thought someone might have let the air out of my tire... and since I kept noticing it at school, I thought some errant middle schooler was messing with my truck. I refilled the tire again, and kept an eye on it. Everything seemed fine.

Jump forward until last Friday. I ran out the door at 8:45 in the morning to pick up some kids from the temple. The tire was completely flat. Since my parents were in town, my dad wanted to change the tire. But once again, we could not get the tire off of the truck. (This seriously makes me wonder if the guy at the tire shop ever got it off either...)

So tonight I was in a totally nasty mood. I had been stranded in the house for too long, and it was no longer safe to be in the same room with me. So I decided this would be the perfect time to attempt a little car maintenance.

I googled "flat tire won't come off," and the overall consensus of the world wide web seemed to be that I needed to sit on my butt and kick the tire repeatedly until it finally came off. Kicking. I could do that. I was definitely in the mood to kick something.

So I marched myself outside, pulled out the tools, and commenced fiddling with the jack. Which is when my neighbor Pablo and his father showed up. They took one look at me and must have decided that I was likely to be maimed in my adventure, so they took over. When I explained it was stuck, they went into the garage, got a piece of wood, and hammered the living crap out of the tire. When that wasn't enough, Pablo found a length of pipe and pried it off.

Hooray! Tire changed! And now I have a renewed belief in chivalry, neighborliness, and good karma.

Morale of the story: Sometimes the only answer is to beat the living crap out of something.

And that is something to be happy about.

Finally Caught Up

#52

Good Advice

"We do what it takes."

-the books, Fall '05

#51

Things that still make you laugh...


Annie: I think I just saw a VIPER.
Kelly: Was it flying?
Star: Vipers are snakes, babe. They don't fly.
Annie: I meant a DODGE Viper.

4th December

Grin and Bear It

"Don't care what people say.
Just follow your own way.
Don't give up and lose the chance,
to return to INNOCENCE."
-Enigma

3rd December

Meganessa

There comes a time,
When you toughest of fights,
Searching for a sign,
Lost in the darkest of nights.
The winds blow so cold,
You're standing alone before the battle's begun.
But deep in your soul, the future unfolds
As bright as the rays of the sun.
You've got to believe in the power of love.

-Sailor Moon

2nd December

Mom

"As you sit on the hillside,
or lie prone under the trees
of the forest,
or sprawl wet-legged on the
shingly beach of
a mountain stream,
the great door, that does not
look like a door, opens."
-Stephen Graham

1st December

Embracing Ridiculous

Though here at journey's end I lie,
in darkness buried deep,
beyond all towers strong and high,
beyond all mountains steep,
above all shadows rides the sun,
and stars forever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
nor bid the stars farewell.

--Samwise Gamgee
J.R.R. Tolkien
"Return of the King"

Nearly finished with catch-up

1st November

Family Tree

A person's a person, no matter how small.-- Dr. Seuss

2nd November

Norman

A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation. --Mark Twain

3rd November

The Infamous Laugh-Cry

“Welcome!” he (Dumbledore) said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!”

- J. K. Rowling

4th November

Conversations for Christmas

We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, Harry, but battle on.

~J.K. Rowling (Albus Dumbledore)

Serious Catch-up Part 3

2nd October:

"Shadow"

Sunshine

When I was little, I used to cry when my family sang the song "You Are My Sunshine." I cried because I thought the song was about someone trying to take my sister away. I'm sure it wasn't easy being the "2nd mom" in the house, but I've watched my sister all my life, and I am more proud of her than I can even say!


"You make me happy when skies are gray."
- You Are My Sunshine

3rd October:

Danger for breakfast.

One minute you're a slug and the next minute you're a hero, so you don't know what to think.
-Ed Belfour

4th October

El Gato Monstro

Lord Arthur Goring: Gertrude, it is not the perfect, but rather the imperfect who have need of love.
Gertrude: You seem to know a great deal about it all of a sudden.
Lord Arthur Goring: Oh, I hope not. All I know, Gertrude, is that it takes great courage to see the world in all its tainted glory, and still to love it. And even more courage to see it in the one you love. Gertrude, you have more courage than any woman I have ever known. Do not be afraid now to use it.

Serious Catch-up Part 2

Still more to go...

August 3rd:

Fellow Offspring

P.S. Stormie's face in the picture = classic.

"I reckon it's my turn to win some or learn some."
-Jason Mraz

August 4th

Old Pals

"I get by with a little help from my friends."
- Mr. Lennon

September 1st

Idaho Dad

"Be brave, little pig."
-Dad
(Quoting Winnie the Pooh?)

2nd September:

Answers

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love,
and be loved in return."
-Moulin Rouge

3rd September:

"It makes me squeeze my bum cheeks."
- BD Plaster

4th September:

Reflection

"I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass,
how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed,
how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with you one wild and precious life?"
-Mary Oliver

October 1st:

Bat Babies

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." -1st John 4:4

Part One of Serious Catch-Up

So my camera has been out of commission. But I'll see what I can do to catch myself up. I reserve the right to post any picture for any week, as I am not sure I'm interested in getting it all into chronological order.

3rd July:

Hugs

È la fede che
Hai acceso in noi,
Sento che ci salvera

-THe Prayer

4th July

The Sights

"I dare you to move. I dare you to lift yourself off of the floor. I dare you to move like today never happened before." - Switchfoot

1st August:

Durd

Come and go with me, it's more fun to share,
We'll both be completely at home in midair.
We're flyin', not walkin', on featherless wings.
We can hold onto love like invisible strings.

There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met.
Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place?
You can just visit, but I plan to stay.
I'm going to go back there someday.

-The Muppet Movie

2nd August:

Close-ups

"Light up, light up, as if you have a choice. Even if you cannot hear my voice,
I'll be right beside you, dear." -Snow Patrol, Run

2nd July

This picture. Awesome.


Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
-J.R.R. Tolkien

1st July

4th of July

"In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive, right? And at the end...you need others to survive, right? But here's the secret: in between, we need others as well." -Mitch Albom

4th June

Temporary House Guests

"It sounds simple,
that's what you're thinking.
But love can walk through fire without blinking."
-Alan Jackson