Be careful what you ask

Background information: Every Idaho state license plate is prefaced with a number and a letter. So it's easy for those of us familiar with the system to know where someone in Idaho lives just by looking at a license plate. The first councilor in our bishopric, Dan Taylor, is originally from Idaho. He has a car for sale, and I made a crack that he should be able to get an extra $500 just by switching his 1B license plates (Bannock county where he is from) for 8B plates (Bonneville county, where I grew up).

This led to a deeper philosophical discussion about how people from outside of the state would have no idea what the code stood for. To prove his point, Dan turned to some other members of the ward standing there and asked, "What does it mean if I tell you that I'm a 1B and he's (pointing to me) an 8B?"

The reply: "Well, if it were the other way around, I would figure it was your bra sizes."

BYU 59, UCLA 0

All eyes were on the tasty assortment of tailgating treats, including these candy eyeballs courtesy of the Schneiders.

After going the last two years with nothing but rabbit ears to provide television reception, we finally ponied up for cable TV. Perhaps the best part of finally getting cable, at least from my standpoint, is that we actually get to watch a few BYU football games. So as a special treat, Teressa decided to throw a tailgating party and invite a bunch of friends over to watch the game and eat lots of good food.


Attempts to use voodoo to stop the BYU onslaught proved to be futile, but the fact that Cassie Schneider is using a gummy heart might have made the spell a little less effective.

We had to invite the Alpers and the Hills since they are BYU fans. Then we decided to add a little spice to the mix by adding the Schneiders, since they aren't fans of BYU, but we enjoy their company anyway. Last of all we invited the Zamarripas to top it off.

Before the game started, the manfolk were discussing the possibility that this could be a close game. At that point I remember saying that I would be OK with a BYU win by a nice comfortable margin. Little did I suspect the shock and awe that was about to follow. The game was so one-sided that even poor Randy Schneider had to agree that it was a magnificent performance by BYU.


A BYU point for every year of Steve Alpers' life—plus a few extra.

At the finale of the game, we celebrated Steve Alpers' birthday. For my birthday can I pre-order a big-time BYU win at a BCS bowl?

Time for school

Spencer is pictured here with his preschool teacher Emily Ramos and with Marcus, her son.

It's that time of year again, when the kids go back to school and the house gets nice and quiet, at least for portions of the day. Mason is in second grade now, and Spencer is going to a friend's preschool. They were both very excited to start school, and I think Teressa was ready for summer to be over, too.

Taking the cake

Teressa knew she must have the cake mould for this cake for her Beehives.

A few weeks ago, Teressa was out shopping with her friends when she came across a cake pan in the shape of a beehive. Since Teressa is the leader of the Beehives at church, she took this as a sign that she must have the pan. To put the pan to the test, Teressa baked the cake pictured above. She even used the exact recipe that came on the pan. I would be the first to admit that Teressa did a fantastic job, though Teressa might be the first to admit that baking isn't usually her thing. Alas, Teressa gave the whole cake to a new Beehive who had just turned 12, and we didn't get to sample the final product. And since we don't have any girls in our family (unless you count Teressa, who turned 12 a long time ago), we may not get to taste this recipe for a long time.

Where shall we go?

The initial list of Army anesthesiology postings for next year was just released. The list won't be finalized until December, but the list does give us some idea where we may end up. Of course, there's some behind the scenes involved. What we can get will partly depend on what other people want. For instance, it would probably be very hard to get the slot in San Antonio because we know that someone else wants it. Anyway, the poll I've included is just for my own curiosity. We already have some ideas where we would like to go.

Girls will be girls

This Labor Day weekend, Teressa's best friends from high school, Julie Kern and Lynndy Hurdle, came to visit her from Mississippi. So Teressa decided to have a girls night out and left me with the three boys while she and her friends spent the night at the Riverwalk. (Of course, I was post-call, so I was perfectly happy to stay home and go to bed early. It was a win-win situation.) Teressa had a great time having her friends here, and so did the boys. I think Mason talked non-stop about Pokemon the whole time they were here. (I wouldn't be surprised if he was even talking about it in his sleep, but I didn't stay up to find out.)


Jenga was a big hit at Family Home Evening

On Sunday night we had Family Home Evening with the whole nine yards—lesson, treat, game and everything. To finish the evening, we played Jenga, the game a blind man can play with his whole family. (More on that in our upcoming Thanksgiving post.) As you can see from the photo above, Jenga was a smash. The next morning I got up bright and early and drove Julie and Lynndy to the airport on the way to work. Teressa is already missing them and looking forward to the next time they visit.

Arranging the furniture

It's not quite the same, but I think the room still looks nice.

Teressa loved what she had done with the boys' room. And she loved the symmetry of the room. I wasn't sure she would ever want to change it, but after spending the last two years with a collection of toys in the loft, Teressa decided that she had had enough. She was ready to move all of the toys into the boys' bedroom in the hopes that the mess would stay there rather than being dragged out to the common areas of the house. So Teressa finally broke down, destroyed the symmetry of the room and had me put the bunk beds on top of each other. The room still looks nice, even if the symmetry is gone. And so far, the mess in the loft has been better.