Halloween Week into weekend

We Love Halloween. The , family, parties, costumes and of  course trick or treating. The following are glimpses of the week.

Pumpkin carving. What is Becca doing her own? Yes - and it was an awesome mess. Following carving we roasted the pumpkin seeds.

Dinner Friday night. Sloppy Joe mouth with potato chip eyes - very healthy and low in calories.

Following dinner, we decorated and ate dozens of sugar cookies complete with frosting and sprinkles. Once, again healthy.

Halloween. Lil' man was magician scooby doo. Two precious costumes combined for one fantastic effect.

Squishy wanted to be a witch, but a pretty witch.

Super-girl.

The threesome, preparing for the night. Neither rain, wind, nor cold stopped any of them.

A.F. Canyon will close the gate on November 1st. So on Halloween we went for a sunday afternoon drive up the canyon to the summit parking. We took pictures and the kids just stood on rocks in their pajamas.

It was cold. Some were in Pajamas - thus the blankets.

More Rocks

We needed to go the bathroom but couldn't find a restroom. There were about 30 of these lined up with two Wash basins at the end. No idea what for. . .but I couldn't resist a picture.

Halloween is over, the candy is almost gone, (Hot Mama is not a believer of "lets make it last" or "only one piece a day" she gave them their baskets  after church and declared "eat as much as you want" the sooner it is gone the better), and now the kids are attempting to go to bed and the house is not even close to quiet. Scriptures turned into - wrestle with the dog and laugh time.

Lil'man just yelled, " I want water". But we still love Halloween and all the fun it brings.

The Town Called Pilsen ( Plzen ). - Czech Republic

This was originally an email sent to me by a good friend. I liked it and decided to post it.

Have you ever wondered if anyone in Europe remembers America 's sacrifice in World War II? There is an answer in a small town in the Czech Republic . The town called Pilsen ( Plzen ).

Every 5 years, Pilsen conducts the Liberation Celebration of the City of Pilsen in the Czech Republic .

May 6th, 2010, marked the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Pilsen by General George Patton's 3rd Army. Pilsen is the town that every American should visit. Because they love America and the American Soldier...

Even 65 years later... by the thousands,

The citizens of Pilsen came to say thank you.

Lining the streets of Pilsen for miles –

From the large crowds,

to quiet reflective moments,

including this American family's private time to honor and remember their American hero.

This is the crash site of Lt. Virgil P. Kirkham, the last recorded American USAAF pilot killed in Europe during WWII. It was Lt. Kirkham's 82nd mission and one that he volunteered to go on. At the time, this 20-year-old pilot's P-47 Thunderbolt plane was shot down, a young 14-year-old Czech girl, Zdenka Sladkova, was so moved by his sacrifice she made a vow to care for him and his memory. For 65 straight years, Zdenka, now 79-years-old, took on the responsibility to care for Virgil's crash site and memorial near her home.

On May 4th, she was recognized by the Mayor of Zdenka's home town of Trhanova , Czech Republic, for her sacrifice and extraordinary effort to honor this American hero.

Another chapter in this important story... the Czech people are teaching their children about America's sacrifice for their freedom.

American Soldiers, young and old, are the ''Rock Stars'' these children and their parents want autographs from.

Yes, Rock Stars! As they patiently waited for his autograph, the respect this little Czech boy and his father have for our troops serving today was heartwarming and inspirational.

The Brian LaViolette Foundation established The Scholarship of Honor in tribute to General George S. Patton and the American Soldier, past and present.

Each year, a different military hero will be honored in tribute to General Patton's memory and their mission to liberate Europe . This award will be presented to a graduating senior who will be entering the military or a form of community service such as fireman, policeman, teaching or nursing -- a cause greater than self. The student will be from 1 of the 5 high schools in Pilsen , Czech Republic ..

The first award will be presented in May 2011 in honor of Lt. Virgil Kirkham, that young 20-year-old P-47 pilot killed 65 years ago in the final days of WWII.

Presenting Virgil's award will be someone who knows the true meaning of service and sacrifice... someone who looks a lot like Virgil. Marion Kirkham, Virgil's brother, who himself served during WWII in the United States Army Air Corps!!!

In closing... Here is what the city of Pilsen thinks of General Patton's grandson. George Patton Waters (another Rock Star!) we're proud to say, serves on Brian's Foundation board.

And it's front page news over there… not buried in the middle of the social section.

Brigadier General Miroslav Zizka – 1st Deputy Chief of Staff, Ministry of Defense, Czech Armed Forces.

Notice the flags? Share this email with your family and friends .. every American should hear this story.

Thank-You to our soldiers.

Halloween/Birthday Party 2.0

Halloween in "Farr" away Payson.

We Gathered for dinner. This was only about half of the kids. Ours were there, A and J's were there and "the author's" old foster kids were there. The B'Hoff's arrived later.

Following dinner the Elder Family Patriarchs had previously hidden pumpkins in their large backyard. The mass of children was released and what followed was a mixture of Halloween and Easter. But the kids all loved it.

Madd Eye found her pumpkin, while carrying a mechanical dog.

Lil'man poses before grabbing his pumpkin.

Tank and his.

This is one happy Squishy.

Smiles is fairly excited at having found hers. J' Attack is so fast he is nothing but a blurr and Squishy is doing something.

After the Great pumpkin search Charlie Brown we gathered for pinata time.

And we come to the end. The off-tune, well loved singing of "happy Birthday" to all those whose birthday's fall in October, be they present or not.

Foi um successo. Which in English means, "it was a success".

What to do when bored with the Flu.

Having the flu is just no fun at all. . .while sick I have been upgrading my internet intelligence and finding cool internet tools. Here are a list of some I have found.

Online Games from Bing, These would be good for kids and they're free.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-great-simple-bing-online-games-play-free/#more-55912

This is an easy way to copy things from one computer to the other using the internet.

http://cl1p.net/

A fun site where you can make your own Hotel or Road signs.

http://www.custommotelsign.com/menu.php

A way to send very large files.

http://www.dropsend.com/

Patjrjk is a fun sight where you can do all sorts of cool computer things, thats where I made the intor phrase for this blog.

http://patorjk.com/blog/

This site gives you a printer button so people can print out your blog or something easily.

http://www.printfriendly.com/button

This site will test the speed of you internet connection to see if you are getting what you pay for.

http://www.speedtest.net/

Want a whole bunch of Web apps? This site will give them to you.

http://www.webapplist.com/

This site can convert file types - mp3 to wmv, quictime to windows . . .etc

http://www.online-convert.com/

Play music on various websites. . .pick your mood.

http://freenuts.com/top-10-websites-for-you-to-play-music-according-to-your-mood/

Icovia space planner lets you set the size of a room and design it before you actually do it.

http://roomfulexpress.icovia.com/

Do you like maps? Do you like playing with maps? This site does many things with maps.

http://www.nerdmodo.com/2009/07/10-cool-google-maps-mashups/

Make your own QR code. Don't know what that is? Go look.

http://www.qurify.com/en/what_are_qr_codes/

Make yourself, websit or Blog an official seal. It's kind-of cool.

http://www.says-it.com/seal/circle.php

How did I find all this? It's called stumble - you input what you want to search for, click on the stumble button and it gives you a site. I really like this, if I am looking for information on something, or just really bored.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumblers/mayknow/?pre=login

And, ladies and gentle men, that is what you can do when you have the Flu.

Halloween Ride? - The perfect socks

These socks may just be the perfect Halloween socks. MBA Action ran an article on them and I ran down to Target and bought two pair. They are one dollar each - Can't beat that. With only a few days left of Mountain riding. . .get out and ride.

Bored. . .go check out these ringtones.

http://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/


It is crazy how annoying these are. . .plus maybe you can find a ringtone that others can't hear.

Terrible Timp Hike

Ever had one of those hikes that you just can't find something good to say about it, except "At least I went" ? That was My attempted Timp Hike. First off Timp isn't my favorite hike, it's crowded, I've done it various times, and the first time I hiked it my dad dislocated his shoulder and we ran down in an hour. I was 8, it was not fun.  However, my two brothers and I decided, after much encouragement from Sasquatch, to hike it early Saturday morning. It wasn't a good start as we left at 3:30 and I didn't fall asleep until 2.  I just wasn't feeling well.

We began at a fast pace, we tend to hike fast, faster. Our goal was to finish it in 5 and 1/2 hours. We all hike, bike and workout frequently, so it was achievable. I was a little tired but just thought it was from a lack of sleep. Arriving at the first step, I was really feeling it, breathing hard and sweating, but just attributed it to the altitude. By the second step I was having trouble keeping up, and began feeling nauseous. Mid-way to the third step, the big valley where the shack is, I couldn't keep up at all and was feeling terrible. I sat to rest and when I started again felt like I was going to throw up and began to shiver.

Now understand, I never get cold. It was below 30 degrees, but I was dressed well and still shivering. I shouted that I was going back, they should keep going  and I would just lay in the back of the truck until they got back. It took me longer to get down than up. I spent about an hour laying in the dirt by the side of the trail. It took me four hours to go 11 miles.

The pictures were all taken on the way down, it wasn't that light, but I was bored.  Arriving at the truck I laid in the back,shivering, on the dog bed, for  an hour and a half until they got back. Driving down the canyon I never stopped shivering.

Arriving home I couldn't get warm, hot tub, blankets, nothing worked and I was having serious, shall we say "stomach problems". Turns out I had a fever of over 102 degrees. Now I associate the Timp hike with all that is horrible.

I will probably never do it again.

Actually, I'm sure I will.

I'm just that way, you can't let a trail beat you.

Why did I share this? Because I still feel lousy and I'm bored.

Halloween/Birthday Party 1.0

Every Year around Halloween we gather for a little family party and October Birthdays. All were there except for our Sister in Brazil.

This is Little J' and Baby V with Modela in the background. I love Little J's hair, I call the color "see through"

Close up!

Why a picture of the backyard tree?

Queen is at the top.

Three new mom's with Three new babies. "Martha stewart 2" and baby S. "Super mom" and Baby B. and "the Modela" with Baby V. "Hot mama" (My wife) is noticeably absent from the picture, and she is not disappointed.

Tank taking on the spanking machine.

Little J. Sporting some new clip on earrings

The small one Donut eating contest.  Left to right. C, lil' man, Baby Girl, Tank in the background.

Far right is M of "Sasquatch" and "Martha Stewart 2"

The medium ones donut eating contest. Left to right; Tank, Squishy, Queen, and Big K.

The big ones. They went against the Dog's. His Highness and Tiny.

Little J. Shooting through the spanking machine.

The final Pinata partying.  You will notice how loud it is. I am always loud, but we had 16 kids, 9 adults and two dogs running around. It was insane.

It's amazing how much fun you can have with something so simple. The kids love it and with "super-mom", "the Modela", and "Martha Stewart 2" Baking and making treats it's also always a very delicious night.

Again we missed our wonderful sister and their family, but Brazil needs some of our energy too. There is so much we try to spread it out a little. One in Sao Paulo, one in Pennsylvania and three in Utah.