How many days?

I bought tickets to our trip to Disneyland last night, we are going on December 19-22 (I think). It is a planned trip of Michael and his soon to be wife, Becca. We were invited a few weeks or months ago. We are really looking forward to this trip. We haven't ever been able to take our kids anywhere fun, other than the public swimming pool (and I am still convinced that if they don't go anywhere else they might never know what they are missing).

Anyways Michael and Becca invited me a while back and I said sure works going good I've got some vacation time saved up, why not? They, Mike and Becca, are pretty regulars at Disneyland but it has been many many years since I have been and I thought what the heck, it will probably be tons of fun with them and the two kids. So this was our original plan just the 5 of us. Well someone got this great idea, why don't we invite Mom and Dad, then when the kids get tired the "Grandparents" can take them back to the hotel and the "adults" can stay and enjoy some more fun later in the evening. So our trip grew to 7. Now what about Eric, the only other child living at home (oh no I just had a terrible thought, WHEN DOES DANIEL COME HOME FROM PANAMA? I gotta call my mom tomorrow and confirm that either he won't be home yet or we won't be missing him come home while we are at Disneyland) so Eric is coming along also. Like I always say the more the merrier that makes a total of 8.

But it only gets better, and I know that this is going to sound really strange and maybe messed up because of how life has been going lately. I mentioned our trip to Karolain, yes the wife that is living on her own. No things aren't that great yet, but I guess after all is said and done you gotta keep trying wherever and whenever you can to make things right. Of course she is interested in going to Disneyland, and yes she says under the pretext of she has a 5 and a 2 year old, who wouldn't want to go. I am not saying that I had any alterior motives for asking her to go, yes after all is said and done I do and I will state it to anyone that I don't want to go through what we are going through. Would I sacrifice a good time with the kids and family to maybe make something good happen in our little family. If something good happens then hurray for it, if nothing does happen and we still can't be a family then I will just have to keep trying harder and keep doing everything to once again have my family back.

Anyways the clan is up to 9 now all said and done, two cars was probably going to have to happen anyways, we were always going to get two hotel rooms (who wants to live through the nightmare of sharing a hotel room with their parents - Eric you are the one that is going to have to sacrifice one for the team this time).

So back to the matter at hand I bought the tickets last night and don't think I am getting the excitement out of the kids that I was expecting. I think tomorrow I might have to make one of those calendars that counts backwards until the day something really special happens. Because it must only by like less then 50 days until we finally make it to Disneyland. We will have fun with those that wanna have fun and the rest are just going to have to make due with what they got.

Moving Forward

I figured out recently that there really are few things that you can control in this life. I was reading my older sister Sarah's blog this evening and realized that kids get to be even one of those things that aren't controllable. Really the only darn thing that can be controlled in this life is your own personal life. It really does feel good to be heading in the right direction again. I had a conversation with a friend earlier this week in where I realized that a testimony is not a diminishing thing, rather what happens is the fact that we veer away from our own testimonies and maybe don't wanna believe what we know is true. Sadly even thinking that maybe it isn't convenient to believe it at the time. This turned out being a very sad realization and also maybe about 9 months late. Another important thing that was learned this week is the importance of forgiveness, I always thought that I was a pretty forgiving guy but over the last few months have realized that I am not and it is a character flaw that has been causing lots of problems lately. Yes it is hard but it is actually pretty easy compared to some of the consequences of not forgiving and holding onto things for way to long.

Yes we are all human, we all make mistakes, and there really aren't worse mistakes than others (ok murder probably the only one that I can think of now), all mistakes are bad and each one has its way of causing problems.

This friend that I chatted with reminded me once again, as my mother did so long ago and my older sister, that one really can't move forward at all without first making their own life correct and take the 180 degree turn. So in conclusion just be right with yourself and the man upstairs and then try your darndest to make things right that have gone wrong with others, but it really won't and can't work without first getting your person in order then having the help of the man upstairs to guide in the right direction.

This might make sense to some and maybe not to other but I really just needed to put some of these things down on paper. I would also like to thank any prayers or fasting that there have been for this little family and I will keep fighting for it every waking hour and with the help of the man upstairs.

Thanks

Disappointment

So we had this really great day planned today, the kids and I. I have been waiting for a couple of weeks to go this Halloween party that my cousin Andrea was throwing. I even got home from work early so that we could leave by 4 and not get there to late, the party started at 4 but she lives in Eagle Mountain and it is a little drive out there. But I had received another email from an aunt saying that she wasn't going to be able to leave Provo until 4:30-ish and so I didn't feel to bad getting there a little late. I imagined that lots of cousins were going to be there and all three of us were really looking forward to the fun parties that Andrea throws. So it took a little longer to get there because the map that I immediately downloaded from Mapquest.com when i got home was way to zoomed in and only gave me the name of the streets immediately surrounding her house, and it has been almost 2 1/2 years since I have been out to her house. No worries we made it to her house by 4:45. When we drove up things seemed a little strange because there were no cars in the driveway other than a work truck. I didn't think much of it maybe by some miracle we arrived first, not really thinking straight or logically at this point. Ariana knocked on the door and Brian, Andrea's husband, answered the door with two little munchkins dressed up for the Halloween party. He seemed a little bit surprised and so did I because nobody was there. He informed me that they had already had a great party, I instantly thought to myself how in 45 minutes did you have a great party. He then went on to say the great party had been the day before. In all my excitement or in all my scatter braininess I hadn't noticed that the date on the email invitation was for the Wednesday the 29th of October. Never in my life have I been more embarrassed, luckily only Brian was home and he didn't seem to bothered by the fact that we had showed up 24 hours late for their Halloween party.

Is life just difficult or am I just losing my mind. I really had no clue when we got there that we were 24 hours late and I felt so bad for my kids they had been wanting to go to that party all week to see family and have some Halloween fun. I will not let that happen again, maybe that is why I just stay cooped up in my house all the time, it's a lot harder to let your kids down when you never leave the living room.

We'll definitely get them next time.

Love you Dad

I had a very revealing conversation this evening. It as amazing how many things get suppressed over a lifetime of memories and how many subjective thoughts a person can have. I realized tonight that I don't sleep very well when my father goes on his "vacations" halfway across the world. I really fear that day when he doesn't come back, it has to be hard to lose your best friend. I fear and worry every day that he is gone and am very hesitant to answer the phone when my mother calls and he is on one of his trips. I have a fear of this, literally it keeps me from sleeping during the month or weeks depending on how long his trip might be. If there is one person that I can always count on it's my father, he really does understand everything that we go through. Yes he has been called hard to get along with even hard to understand before, but I wouldn't change anything in the world to have him here to help me on a daily basis. I know that you don't read these things very often Dad but I just wanted to say that I love you and appreciate all you do for your family and all you are doing to help me with mine. Thanks and I love you.

Not that my lifetime is even that long though, only a short 28 years, but tonight I started remembering things that had been pushed so far down into the dark recesses of the mind and it didn't take that much coxing to get them to come back out. Watch out those things and feelings never go away. Everything is out there now and it does feel good don't try and suppress feeling and let it all hang out, what's the worst that can happen?

Cat Nap

I was reading some blogs of friends today and I realized something. At work there are many different types of people. Those with the doors wide open, come and go as you please style. Those that situate their offices so that they can see everyone's faces as soon as they are in the door. Then there are the type of people that put their desks in a manner that you can't even see their faces when you walk by their door. What is the deal with people why is it that people are so secretive. Do you really think that your job is so important to the company that you have to hide everything that you are doing. Hey stupid, everything that you do at work is company property. Your e-mails can be looked at anytime of the day by anyone who really matters. The company keeps tabs on everything and every page that you look at while you are at work. So don't think that your job is more important than anyone else because they keep tabs on everyone and everything that you are doing. You are not safe from anyone don't try and hide from them they know what you are doing all the time.

This came because the other day I was so tired at work that I was sitting looking at some old building plans at my desk when I realized that I kept dozing off. I couldn't believe it sleeping at work, so ashamed so unacceptable. Then I thought to myself, really come on. I really don't want to start complaining about work because I really enjoy my job. But I was told that there are 168 workable hours in a 7 day time period. Sadly that means that I could be and have been called in to work during any one of the 168 hours during the week. I have a phone that isn't even a year old a nicer flip-phone with a camera fell out of my shirt pocket when I was leaning over a scissor lift that was at the rafters at work. Dropped out of my pocket about thirty feet in the air, not to say that it took a pretty good bounce, sort of like a skydiver whose parachute doesn't open, but it broke in two. I could hear the people talking on the other side of the call but no picture and no more flip rather just always dangling in two pieces. I had to go get a new phone, I told the salesman to not even try I wasn't going to by anything expensive rather durable because the company was not going to reimburse me for my phone that broke at work. So I have this phone that isn't even a year old. Probably in the last year has been turned off a total of 15 minutes. So sometimes I have to manually turn the phone off because you can't hear the person talking on the other side. So I can be called into work anytime of night, day or weekend.

So I found myself sleeping in my office and later I thought who cares, I am actually tired and am not getting enough sleep at home either. I don't know what it is, call me "unrealistic or out of touch" (those on the JNAC might appreciate that) but for some odd reason I can't fall asleep at night or maybe it is just the fact that I like getting maybe 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night. Life sometimes sucks. You run into these situations that you never imagined could happen to you and you thought this should not happen to me I am a good person.

So back to the type of office personnel, I am none of the types mentioned above, rather I am the type that thinks "Damn I might fall asleep at my desk, during work hours, while on the clock, with the office door wide open, but honestly do I care because sometimes that is the only place that I can actually sleep". If you're looking for a reason to fire Paul Goold come by his office on a Wednesday or Thursday at around 11:30 am you won't have to look very hard because his door is going to be wide open and he is probably going to be catching a cat nap at his desk.

San Diego

This blog is coming a few months late. The kids, my dad and I went to San Diego for a week at the first of May this year. I was a little concerned for the kids and for my Dad. I hadn't ever taken the kids by myself for such a long time. The trip turned out great and we had some really fun times. I promised on my last post that I would get my camera back and post some photos from this trip. I hadn't remembered how much fun we really had until I viewed the photos of this trip. It really was a blast and thanks dad for having the patience that you did on this trip with us. I know that my kids really enjoyed it and I had a great time getting away from Salt Lake for a whole week and really just relaxing.

So here goes the photos I hope that I can explain all the fun that we had:


























We stopped in St. George on the way to San Diego to pick up my dad and spent a couple of days there enjoying the pre-hot weather that we were about to endure. The kids always have fun in St. George with any of the clan that still resides there.

Once in San Diego we had three major stops to make; Seaworld were a lot of the photos are taken (filled up the only memory card to quick) The kids love the penguins and grandpas really awesome hat!!! I think we must have went through the penguin house like 4 or 5 times (much cooler than a regularly cooled AC building, nice)

I don't know why I can't figure out this blogger page but I can't write next to some of the photos. Dad really did good with the kids he showed tons of patience and even allowed the kids to get interactive with a lot of the attractions at Seaworld, like the starfish.

The next leg of our trip was the San Diego Zoo, what a fun place other than however many acres the zoo is it literally sits on probably 3 or 4 humongous hills in downtown San Diego. Lovely place and some really nice exhibits but pushing a double stroller got old really quick. The picture after the starfish is 2 giant hippos just lounging in the heat. The kids really enjoyed these type of exhibits where they could actually see through what has to be some pretty thick glass into the hippos or the polar bear shot in the next picture. Really fun to see a polar bear in the water playing and swimming right on the other side of the glass. They even had a panda bear exhibit, the problem with this exhibit is they were doing some sort of study on the panda bears and wanted everyone to be really quiet around them (good luck with a 4 year old and a 2 year old who honestly believed that he was whatever animal we were viewing at the time and had to try and imitate the noises they make).

We actually went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park one day but by this time the camera was definitely full and the photographer was extremely tired of taking pictures. Fun park and much more in their habitat the animals than at the zoo. The last pictures are by far of the favorite thing that we did that the kids liked the best, Shamu, or one of his relatives. We sat through the killer whale show twice the first time we were at the very bottom next to the tank and in the "wet zone" little did we know that when they mean wet zone they really aren't trying to pull your leg. You are going to get soaked and smell like fish for the rest of the day. It was fun though and the kids liked being wet, but up that close you can't see anything that the whales are actually doing so the second time is when the photo was taken and we were actually sitting in some shade pretty high up in the auditorium.

The video is something that I had forgotten we had taken. If this is the right video it is actually pretty funny. You really couldn't see the orca coming up until he/she got right next to where you were standing. You see Matthew jump back in fear as it swims by and then can faintly hear Grandpa and I laughing in the background because we must have stood there for about 5 minutes and everytime the orca would swim by Matthew would do the exact same thing, shun in fear and then return to looking through the glass as soon as it had went by.

This will be a hard vacation to beat, hopefully when we go to Disneyland in December we will at least have as much fun as we had in San Diego in May.

Butt naked wrestling

I don't know what it is about my kids, and hopefully this is all kids in general. They love to be naked. Good thing that they are only 2 and 4 or this might be a real problem. Seems like the hardest thing to do is to get them dressed for bed after they have had a bath. They will wrestle with anyone when they are naked, good thing that this only happens after the fact that they have had a bath, mostly Matthew does all the wrestling. Which isn't always a good thing because he thinks that wrestling is sitting on peoples faces, sort of gross but really not that bad because it is just a naked 2 year old butt on your face fresh out of the bath. I try and figure out why being naked is such a fun thing, maybe it is just re-leaving or just the fact that what you are doing is in direct violation of what your parent is saying at that time "Put on your clothes now or else!!!". Then I think that maybe they got this genetically from their father?


Then I think to myself okay maybe it is a genetic thing, dad at 4 years old was skinny dipping in Hawaii with his 6 year old sister. Some things I guess just don't ever die. I wonder if my kids and I took a trip to Hawaii they would also be skinny dipping in whatever we are calling this.

I don't really remember any of these antics on our family vacation to Southern California this May, seems like I only remember them with their clothes on. I guess it is a little bit harder to take your clothes off at Sea World and the Zoo.

I sure hope that if we can go to Disneyland with Michael and Becca in December that they also will keep their clothes on or else we might not be able to spend the whole 3 days there but rather only until we get kicked out for indecency.

I was going to post some pictures of our trip to California this spring but realize that I don't have the pictures downloaded yet and will have to post them later when I get my camera back. There are some pretty funny ones so I will try and get them put up sometime this week

Sundays

I hate to say that over the last couple or 8 or 9 months we haven't been the most active going church members. I have pretty much thought up any excuse to not go to church on Sunday mornings, sometimes even as soon as Saturday nights. I can't say that this has made me real proud or even a much better anything. I hasn't been easy to even want to go back to church, but over the last couple of weeks we have been trying to get back to church. I can't say that it has been anything easy and this is probably one of the things that I am least proud of at this stage in life that has happened. Being very much less active when you know that something is true is a very hard step and path to walk down.

Over the past few weeks that we have been going back, and it does make it much easier that the kids enjoy being at primary and nursery and stay there by themselves for both hours, it has made such a difference in our daily lives. Parenting is a very hard thing but life just seems to go easier when you are trying to live correctly. The church really is a place that can be a refuge from the daily ordeals that one puts themselves through.

The kids and I are going to try and get there every week that we are together and I will make a much more valiant effort to be there every Sunday even if I don't have the little ones.

Favorite time of day

I hope that this doesn't come out wrong or someone think the wrong thing. My favorite time of day is that time after my kids have "finally decided" that they are going to bed and minutes that I get before I go to bed myself. Alone time is sometimes the very best thing in the world. I love to get on the computer for a few minutes and get caught up on some blogging. I get a pretty good laugh first from my older sister, Sarah, she really knows how to make my day. I'm sure that she doesn't know it but I am a regular "stalker" of her blog, it just brightens up those really dark days. You don't have to know her to get her jokes and really good humor either, Seven Village Idiarts, is her Blog and it really is fun. Then I like to check on the whole family and see if anyone that blogs has blogged anything new, usually just something here or there but nice to be able to sit down and read about the fam for a little while. Lastly before possibly blogging myself I love sitting down and catching up on some JNAC before bed. It might seem real strange but that group of girls has something about them that is nice to read about once in a while.

I am not one for posting anywhere else but love commenting on other blogs and only posting on my own.

Back to the best time of day, the thing that can really ruin a really good end to a day is when you are trying to relax and you get that very undesired phone call from none other than work. Usually when someone from work calls at this time there is some disaster at the plant and they need immediate assistance and that means "Super" Paul to the rescue. I really should move much farther away from the plant, still within commuter range, but far enough away so that I am not the closest one and quickest to get there if there is a problem. Then again this wouldn't make the 4 hour call-in really that worth it either. Because if it took longer to get to work then I wouldn't be making that much for actually going in. I guess that I should just stop complaining and enjoy the time that I have.

I do love the afternoons with the kids, just have to say that 8-9 hours at the plant sometimes one just wants to come home and relax. I guess that those relaxing days are over and this is another type of lifestyle that one pretty much has to get used to. Well that is probably enough of that.

RNC WOW WOW

Wow, I don't think that I have ever sat down and actually watched any type of Republican/Democrat convention. I have to say, maybe it is just the fact that I am from Alaska, but that Sarah Palin seems to be maybe just what the Republican Party needed. Maybe not being overwhelmed in the "Washington Elite" is actually a good thing, how ironic. I can see that everyone has flaws, who doesn't, but she gave a very well placed speech at what I think was a very much needed time. Ok this is probably the only speech that I will watch out of this convention and I didn't watch any of the speeches from the other convention. It probably does have to do with those small town Alaskan roots, but I hope that she and her running mate will make it as far as God intended for them to go. Seems like she has maybe what is needed right now for this country as a whole. Hopefully the next few weeks will set her even more soundly in her conviction to do what is right and also in her policies and her and McCain can show us that they are going to stand for something that we need right now and not just blow hot air up our ..... and then "change" once the get were they want to be. I was very taken back by Governor Palin, I have to admit that I like many others didn't expect this but she is bound to do something good for this country, and if all that is honesty then more power to her.

Patriotism - - - Over Patriotism...

Maybe it is just me but does this craze come over me every 2 years. I really didn't realize how much I miss the Olympic games whether they are the summer or winter games. My kids at some later date are really going to hate this time every other year, I have tried to put them to bed early every night for the last couple of nights so that I can veg out in front of the television and watch some really amazing sporting events.

There are some things that Americans just do better than other nations. I don't think that I am overly patriotic either, this is what I am sometimes told by some of my friends from other countries. Hey if your country sucks to bad to have any athletes that can actually do anything that is not my problem, but my country just kicks your countries ....... Ok maybe I get a little crazy, but really to be the 5th team in a race to beat a world record time and not even get a medal (this is some amazing stuff) Yes the guy has the chance to win somewhere around 15 gold medals and this being only his second olympic games (that to me is just so much better than any "futbol" game that you can see anywhere in the world)

I guess that the United States isn't better than everyone else it just goes to show how diversified that we are here in this wonderful country. Seems like while most of the worlds countries are worried about winning that medal or the stupid world cup, our great country is out there winning and competing in all the other sports that this Olympics has to offer. Ok the Chinese divers today were pretty amazing, but that relay team last night was simply awe inspiring.

I get the same way during the winter olympics, maybe what I like so much is the pure competition that is being displayed here. Simple if you dope you are out, do this on your own ability not some man-made substance that will only get you there this one time. If you were a true athlete you would be tried and tried again and succeed at every turn of the head. Ya so we might send our very best from the NBA to these games, our REDEEM Team, so what if we had the one and only DREAM Team. The other teams are using professionals from their leagues in their countries our athletes just make more money and people around the world over just like to watch all things American. Way to beat the home team by 31 points in their capital city. You come you play and if you can't keep up then go home. This is not being overly Patriotic, this is what patriotism is all about. We love where we are from and we know when we are the best. So what if President Bush being there was publicized way out of proportion, he has every right to be there among other heads-of-states. Though you might not like it he is the head of this state and is deserving of every privilege and right that all the other 200+ heads of state deserve. Lay off the guy for a while he only spent 3 days at the Olympics.

Back to the Olympics, would really love to stay and blog about the amazingness of my country and the whole Olympic experience but I am probably missing some really important butt-kicking by the United States right now as I blog.

Family Bloggers

It is 2:30 in the morning on a Monday morning in August. I have to be to work in about 4 hours and don't know what the HE.. that I am doing awake. Must not be such a good thing to go to bed with the kids at 10:00 p.m. It is a sad realization when you get 4 hours of sleep and realize that might be all that you will be getting. The alarm isn't supposed to go off until 6:00 a.m. but I don't know if I will get another wink of sleep, and here I am sitting at the computer blogging. (Almost as much of a junkie as my older sister Sarah) I just realized also that almost all of my siblings are connected to blogger.com.
There is Sarah who started the whole mess with her blog, possibly the funniest place that I have ever been on the internet. SevenVillageIdiarts is her blogs name and really I'm not kidding when I say that there is some real comic genius there. Sometimes maybe at your expense but mostly at her own and different things that have happened in her life. She has a really strong sense of remembrance and can make any situation funny. Love her blog and wouldn't give checking it out everyday for anything.
Michael, next in line from me, blogs with his girlfriend Becca, a very very nice girl that someday I hope to be able to call sister also. Their blog is Beccaandmike, also another great place to catch up on their lives and what is happening down in St. George. Those two lead a very interesting and fun life together. Never sure where they might be whether in Southern California or just down in the parents basement playing XBox 360. Love them both and have to also check their blog everyday.
I have this place on the internet that I like to call home, and if you are reading this you probably know that this is GooldisGood. Maybe not as exciting as Sarah but do like to poke fun at the world in my own kind of way. Don't ever blog about your parents, I think one of my blogs, intended for fun, ran my own mother off. Mom it was just for fun.
Tonight, or should I say this morning, while checking some e-mails I realized that 2 more of the seven have blogger identities. Hopefully to expound here really soon, the baby Eric and the only other sister Briana. It might be harder for these two to blog but I am excited to see how their blogger identities turn out and how much fun it will be to check up on their lives.
There are only two other siblings who need blogger identities and then all seven will be connected through blogger.com. Jonathan who is living in Alaska, how do we get him to become connected? What special insights can we use to embarrass him enough that he has to answer back to all of us here on blogger.com. Once we get him started I know that there will be no turning back. I wrote a life story compilation called The misadventures with Jonathan. So I know that he has the comicness to come and write some great info. Then there is Daniel and I can realize why he hasn't connected yet. I am waiting patiently until after December when he comes home from Panama to see all the other kids connected on blogger and realize that he too must become one of us.
So brothers and sisters keep it up it is wonderful to be able to catch up with everyone this way. Please keep blogging and letting the rest of us know how your lives are treating you.

Patience

I can't believe how much we have become a number society. It seems everywhere that you go everything is a number. Go to eat and you have to take a number. Go to the hardware store and the counter help wants you to take a number. Why not just brand us with some number and that would solve all the problems. Where did the personal help go? Why can't we take time out of our so busy life styles to actually enjoy life?

A man let me go ahead of him in the movie store because he realized that I had two kids with me and he was all alone. I really appreciated his gesture and couldn't pass it up the second time that he had to offer. I think he realized his huge mistake after I got to the counter and started checking out. The counter help just wanted to confirm that I had a "Blue-ray player", "what I asked? Do I have what?" "well you are renting only one blue ray disc." So we had to go back and find another movie for Ariana but she couldn't figure out why we could not rent the movie that she wanted to. This whole time the man at the counter is patiently waiting, while the younger man by himself is also waiting. I feel sorry for people that have any patience in this world and are nice enough to let a father and his two kids jump in line because they are already cranky. I just can't be so nice, because once I get them into the car all that I have to do to drown them out is turn the radio up a little louder so that I can't hear them. Then I start singing really loud, kids really hate when their parents sing extremely loud, must be that whole parents are nerds. My four year old once asked me to be quiet while the two year old was making the universal shhhhh sign for some peace. I do love the kids but sorry babes when I am driving I am in full control and I will enjoy the music rather than the screaming that is usually going on in the back seat. Soon enough I will be able to tell you live with it or walk home.

Kids...Fireworks...Boy Scouts

Tried to teach my kids something new today. You can't point lit fireworks, sparklers or those morning glory things at people. There really are some important lessons in life that will take a long time for them to learn. I still remember a river rafting trip in Alaska, the infamous Gulkana week-long rafting trip. Possibly one of the very funnest and most exciting scout outings that I have ever been on. One of the kids parents didn't ever have this so important life lesson with him prior to going on this trip. Roman candles (very sweet fireworks) are much more dangerous than the stuff you can buy in Utah. They, roman candles, are not made for pointing at people, but then again why would someone buy a firework that you have to hold and shoots out projectiles other than to point it at someone. I can hear the voice of reason coming from some of "other" parents saying Paul you were supposed to be teaching those two not to do this sort of thing. Well the good thing is they will not be old enough to read this blog for a very long time and by then they will understand why their father was having second thoughts about the whole pointing fireworks at other humans. In close proximity it is not a very intelligent or good thing at all, but going from one river raft to another is not that bad of an idea. I honestly believe that if the scouting officials actually knew what went down on scouting outings in our Alaska troop our sponsorship would have been pulled faster than ... well lets just say that I don't think we ever followed any scouting protocol on any scout outings. I don't think that the scouts condone; R-rated movies (or even the fact of taking a troop of boy scouts away from scout camp to go to the movies), fireworks (you can do a lot of dangerous things with fireworks). They are more into the whole torture young men with any form of torture they can come up with and we can turn it into a "merit badge". Don't get me wrong I love the boy scout program, they do teach many life supporting attributes, but come on swimming in an Alaskan lake that only unfroze weeks prior to scout camp that is just wrong. Why at scout camp are the only heated showers those of the leaders/adults? If I ever have to tie my kids down for any reason I actually now probably 23 different knots that I could use but I still can't figure out how to connect those really intricate seat belts that hold the kids down in their car seats. Boy Scouts is one of the greatest institutions in the world, roman candles really are no fun unless they are being shot across a freezing Alaskan lake from one inflatable river raft to another inflatable river raft, and a 4-year-old running around the yard with a "morning glory" firework isn't and never will be a safe parenting practice.

Funniest projectile

Today probably the funniest thing happened, that I have seen, in a very long time. The kids are old enough, almost, that taking them to the park is relaxing. I say almost because I still have to watch them but not like a hawk, I can actually enjoy the heat and sweatiness that the 100+ degree weather brings. So back to the funniest thing, we went to the grocery store prior to the park to buy some popsicles, because it really is deathly hot in Utah right now. Anyways once at the park I let the monsters loose with their popsicles. At first they were very timid to go on any of the jungle gym equipment but that only lasted about 2 or 3 licks. Not sure which was more appealing the popsicles or the fact that they were at the park and could just let of some of that pent up energy. So I am sitting down sort of watching both of them from afar, relaxing on the parkbench. I notice Matthew, the two year old, going up to the upper part of the jungle gym to the very highest slide that there is. He has only finished like 1% of his popsicle because he is two and has the attention span of a well two year old. Sometimes a couple of hours after we finish eating you will find him playing somewhere and he honestly looks like a chipmunk, cheeks full of food that he has calmly been holding in his cheeks since he got down from the dinner table not willing to part with those last few bites. Hilarious, he actually was choking once on food that had he had been holding in his mouth for at least 4 hours, was very hard for him to willingly spit it out into the toilet.
Back to the park, so he is on the highest part of the gym with his Popsicle and I so happen to see him go down the slide, that the last child must have left extremely well lubricated because he pretty much shot out of the end like a missile. I was very quick to get up when I saw him flying through the air. Well as you can imagine he lost control of the Popsicle and was sort of spread eagled on the wood chips with the Popsicle laying a few feet away perfectly intact. I was sure that this was going to be the end of a very short trip to the park. He calmly arose, got his bearings back, looked around a little until he located his Popsicle, looked it over calmly, picked it up blew the dirt off and quietly started sucking on the Popsicle again.
I couldn't stop laughing, he and his older sister really are the most extraordinary things in the world. They are so shy at times but at other times really are the most off the wall creatures that you can imagine.

Movies and Parents

One of the weirdest things happened at our house last time that my parents came to visit. Andrea your little comment reminded me that I probably out to share another sad part of what I see of growing older. As I was thinking about your comment I thought that probably my parents were to proud to listen to the tv at a very loud and uncomfortable volume. Then I thought, as anyone who knows them, they have always listened at an uncomfortably loud level.
We recently bought a surround sound for the living room and both mom and dad were up for a few days and after the kids go to be we sometimes have a movie or two to watch while we relax in the evening. I thought that they might just not know which setting on the surround sound to set while watching movies. But they did the weirdest thing, they wouldn't start the movie without subtitles, in English. They said it is to loud we can not hear what they are saying. My parents have reverted to reading entire movies instead of listening to them. I thought that it was an anomaly with the surround sound until a few weeks later we were in St. George and they were doing the same thing there. I always viewed movies as a tool for relaxation, reading the entire movie is no form of relaxation but rather 1 1/2 to 2 hours of mind draining reading.
I don't know if I am the only one but I can't concentrate on the action of the movie I always end up reading the entire subtitle if they are on. I pretty much miss the whole movie and just end up reading it.
Hope that this does not sound mean but I will not rent movies if I know that my parents are coming because I don't and almost will not subject myself to 2 hours of reading when what I am looking for is that escape from where reality where I don't have to do any work and almost fall completely unconscious.

Sad Realization

It has been a few days since my last blog. It isn't that I haven't wanted to just haven't been able to find the time. I don't really believe that everyone has the same amount of hours in their day, 24 just doesn't seem like enough.
We have been working hard at the plant and seems like every night we have had occupied with something or other at the apartments. So time for blogging has been put on the back burner until I can squeeze in that extra few minutes a night to actually sit down without passing out. The sad realization that I have come to is that old age sucks. I don't try and claim old age yet, I am seeing it and feeling it first hand through my poor father. I love the guy a ton, probably don't have a better friend in the whole world then him. Love and adore he really is a great guy for those that don't know him, and for those that do know him you know what I am talking about. He has this aura of being very rough and tough around the edges but really is a loving and caring dude.
He is getting older and it is a pretty sad thing. The way that I see it is only slightly but affecting him considerably. We have been tiling a floor for the last couple of days. He has had to do all of the laying of the tile while I have the "cush" job of measuring cuts and then cutting the tiles. I couldn't figure out why he always wants to take the harder of the two man job but then I started to realize the other day that without his glasses (that he can never find) he can't see the tape measure. So because of his bad sight he just has to do the job the requires not a lot of use from the eyes. So he is getting more worn out because of this fact, but we were able to finish a 200 sq. foot area in two days. We allow the tile glue to dry for at least 24 hours before going to the next and final step of the process, grouting the tile. This is the step that led me to realize that old age sucks and that he is getting older.
The tile looked perfectly laid and was going to turn out awesome when we started grouting this afternoon. Everything was going smoothly I was down on my hands and knees this time grouting the whole floor, really everything was going very smoothly and was actually turning out to be a very fast and well liked stop to the tiling process. Then all H ---- E ---- double hockey sticks broke loose when we realized that we had just grouted our beautiful 200 sq. foot floor with quickset mortar. Dad was in charge of getting all the supplies this time from the hardware store and didn't realize that the cement mortar bags that were right next to the grout. Because he didn't take his glasses with him shopping on Wednesday he didn't even know, and I had put all faith in his ability to buy the necessary supplies (I still have total faith in him not speaking bad about him at all) because I guess we either both go to buy them or I just pick them up before he comes up to Salt Lake.
So the sad realization is that old age sucks, and worse than that is that my father that is my best friend in the whole world is getting old and really needs glasses to do anything that has any importance in the world.
We are good, near professional, tile layers but this one time we just happened to use the wrong materials. Thanks old age.

Money

I just got done reading Sarah's (older sister) blog, check it out if you haven't Seven Village Idiarts, and I realized something that we all know all to well. This life is all about money, not so much for the things that you might want or need here in your daily life. You really can get by with very little money and still be extremely happy. What I am referring to is to see the rest of the world. Money, airlines, travel is all very expensive.
I have an older sister that will be getting married on the Italian island of Sardinia sometime later this year. She may not be back to the United States for a very long time and everyone in our family is trying to figure out someway to get there to be there for her wedding and also to see the beauty that is this part of the world. Some of my siblings have already decided that they will not be able to go due to money and time off school or work. Others have decided to go and there are still those of us that are undecided.
On Sunday I got a phone call from a very close friend from childhood who is living in Hawaii. He graduated from BYU and got a job with a pretty large hotel chain and his first assignment was in Hawaii. Well he says that people were very willing to say that they would come and visit when they got the assignment but as a now nobody has went to visit, and in February he will be reassigned to somewhere here on the "mainland".
So as you can see there are always all of these really interesting and important vacations that could be taken, but there is always that factor of money. How nice it would be to be so rich and not have to worry about money at all and be able to do all of the traveling that one wanted to do. I really wouldn't be one of those rich snobby millionaires, I would probably even keep working just take more vacations whenever I wanted. I would even give money away to the less fortunate and take them with me to those much needed vacations.
But since I am not I will just have to oh wait the boss hurt his back at work this last week and might be out indefinitely and so maybe there are no hopes for going anywhere, or taking any vacation time for another long while. I guess that time will tell as to where and when to take vacation.

A reason I should buy my own home

I realized yesterday one of the many reasons that I have yet to buy my own home. I hate yard work. Allergies spring up, you have to haul away all the twigs and branches that you cut down, and you still have to tend the kids (only with power tools that can remove small extremities if you are not extremely careful).
Most of you know that we live in the Apartments on Capitol Hill in Downtown Salt Lake City. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to work off rent and learn a lot about ourselves and things that I really do hate. I guess that I can't say that I have ever liked yard work. I think my parents home in Alaska had to be on at least a half acre lot (probably giving them the benefit of the doubt) and it seems like that dang lawn grew a few inches every week. I remember cutting that large lawn what seemed like every week, and there was no easy way around cutting it, you just hoped that it hadn't rained the Friday before or else you were cutting the lawn in what seemed to be a half acre swamp. Tires sinking around every turn and the lawnmower bag only held like to passes around the yard and you had to make like honestly 50 passes no joke. The good thing about Alaska was that the parents obviously didn't care more then having lawn, or things didn't grow because all we had was lawn, no bushes or shrubs. So I got my hate for mowing lawn at an early age in Alaska. It wasn't until we moved to St. George, Utah in 1994 that I really found out what yard work was really all about.
The home in St. George is on a much smaller lot and much less lawn (thank heavens), but for some reason things seem to grow much better in St. George so Dad thought it would be good to do the same that was done at the Apartments in Salt Lake 50 - 60 years ago. Have a nice sized lawn, then put tons of bushes all over the property and at the very edges line the whole homestead with fruit trees. This is a great theory but not really because you have so much more to keep up. I don't like to complain because it does make things look so much nicer then just a bare lawn. I was in St. George a couple of weeks ago where two of my younger brothers live and things were looking a little bit overgrown and I asked Dad what was happening and his answer was a calm and straightforward "It gives me allergies". I couldn't help but laugh a little inside, he must be getting soft in his older age because the two boys at home were not even thought about, having the possibility of doing the yard work. I did silently think to myself and you wonder why the astronomical amount of yard work doesn't get done at the Apartments.
So I helped him trim his bushes, shrubs, trees and anything else that he might have needed the electric trims in St. George for so that I could bring them to Salt Lake. Now the yards at the Apartments are by far the largest lawns that I have ever had to tend. (Employing a professional might not be a bad idea in the future) My Grandfather, Norris, bless his soul had a great vision for the Columbus Street Apartments. I know that he was heeding the word of the prophets in preparing a plot of land that would produce fruit in times of need. The only problem that I can for see is that I don't know how to trim fruit trees, and make them actually produce healthy large fruit. The grounds at the apartments are not a quick morning project either, the lawns themselves take about 3 hours, then the trimming of the bushes and trees take another 3 - 4 hours then all the hauling away of the dead branches. Let me tell you if anyone has a ward that needs some service hours I have some great service projects for them to do.
Don't get me wrong I love living at the apartments that are a legacy to Norris Goold, he really did have a great vision for what would serve the community and the family in the future. I guess I just haven't ever liked yard work and probably never will. I guess if I did buy my own home I could decide how much yard work that I would have to do, maybe not such a bad idea afterwards.

Privileges

For those of you that don't know about us Goolds, we live in a two bedroom apartment in Salt Lake City. I was realizing today some of the advantages of not having space in the apartments for some very common household items. We don't have a dishwasher, and our laundry room is also our kitchen which kind of just forms our dining room. We have never lived in our married life anywhere larger with more space so we have come accustomed to the little bit of cramped we feel here in 595 B Columbus Street.

I was realizing today something that I haven't ever known before but seems to work very well. Here at the Goold household it is actually a privilege to wash the dishes with Dad. I realized this today as I was washing the dishes and Ariana asked if she could help. She really didn't want to finish her carrots and potatoes. So she became aware that washing the dishes or chores are a privilege that only those who have finished their dinner can help with. She was able to finish her dinner with amazing speed after this and then was given the privilege of putting the clean dishes in the dish rack.

Another privilege I know that my children have is taking a bath. They can't take a bath unless their toys are cleaned up first. This seems to be a very good practice as 1)they enjoy bathing 2)they don't enjoy cleaning up their toys. I don't know if using what your children like against them to do things that they don't likes is morally correct but as I said it seems to be working so I think that I will keep up the good child rearing practice.

To buzz or not to buzz

I really don't want to try and meet or beat anyone on a blog. The whole blogging before 8:30 am I would have to say impossible, sorry I value those morning hours way to much to get up any earlier to blog. I like it and all but probably not to that fanatical state yet. I do like just coming on the computer and being able to ramble on for as long as I'd like. Mike or Becca not sure who might have written that little tidbit, feel free this is going out there for anyone to read. Hopefully there are never things said that are taken seriously. Sarah does have what I think of as the perfect blog, haven't checked out many others so not really able to put it up against anything else. Feel free to come and go as you please "the door is always open".

So Sarah I will not be able to keep up with your blogging early mornings, that one might have just been a fluke, nor will I be able to blog from my bathroom (would require some serious rearranging of furniture) but I will try and put a little something out there everyday.

I was trying to think of something to write about today and I came across a little something after I had cut Matthew's hair. Gave him his first real buzz cut today. Karolain wasn't to excited about the whole deal yesterday, pretty much got the whole "no how are you going to do that to him you will scar him for life" shpeal. She just doesn't understand the background we Goold's come from. Everyone knows that is the young Goold hairstyle. Everyone into the bathroom, get down to the skivies, put on the mandatory see through poncho and let Dad hack away at the mop top. It was pretty fun to be the Dad and put Matthew on the stool, in his diaper, and shave off the mop (he had like two dustpans of hair up there). It actually might have scarred him for life, two years old might be a little young for the trimmers? (what are those things called). He might have cried the whole way through, there might be some spots where the hair is a little bit longer then in others and he might never look the same (all that hair was actually making his melon appear smaller he's back to having the watermelon on a toothpick). It was really fun though to be the one doing all the cutting and not having to suffer through all the drama that is being the kid on the barstool. Exciting, can't wait for it to grow back so that I can cut again. Might seem a little psychotic to those out there who haven't had the chance or should I say life changing experience that is cutting no buzzing your sons hair for the first time.

I really hated sitting in the upstairs bathroom, in my underwear, wearing a see through poncho while Dad went to town on my head. I guess that I am finding out and redeeming myself for some of those things that I disliked so much as a child, with my own children. So Michael those snippers that you have are not only handy now but they will be really handy later down the road when you have little Michaels running around with a mop.

I do love older siblings

I do love my older and younger siblings. I would like to comment on one at this time, Sarah. She really is a cool lady. Will be 34 years old this year, 5 children, loves and lives life to the fullest. If you ever get the chance end up some how on her blog (seven village idiarts). Quite possible some of the best stuff that can be found on the internet, definitely funnier than that crap that you can find on youtube. Really is some guy trying to fly off his second story roof funny, it may seem at the time but the comic genius Sarah is amazing, maybe it is only me but seems like every time on her blog she has some new crack at life and it just makes sense but also is simply hilarious. I really don't want to make any other siblings jealous, but I'm pretty sure that none of them blog maybe some younger ones, they are ok also because they won't even care.

I do have some really great memories of my oldest sister. For some reason I think most of my likes in life came from her. I was browsing her blog, pretty much a daily occurrence (ok ashamed to say sometimes 2 or 3 times a day), and happened upon "my favorite 80's tunes". It is amazing how one set of songs can set the mind into reminiscence.

For those who don't know the Goolds here is a short history. 5 kids in 10 years, then a couple more came along about 6 years afterwards. We grew up in Valdez Alaska. Our childhood home had 6 bedrooms, 3 upstairs (one was my mothers study) and 3 downstairs. When we were little we had the sweet life the white carpeted nursery right next to mom and dads bedroom (spent many nights sleeping at the foot of their humongous water bed). At about age 8, 6 for Michael, we were sent to live in the basement with all the other siblings (for lack of a better word). The only problem was that there weren't enough bedrooms for the older kids to have their own bedroom and for a long time they were not willing to share their private space their bed wetting younger brothers (ok I don't think Michael ever wet the bed, but I did until I was 10). We were sort of like nomads in our own home, shuffled around until Dad could figure out some place to stick us (and they wonder why Michael won't move out, he is just paying them back for the shuffling he had to endure, keep it up Michael don't let them keep shuffling you around). I really remember living in the laundry/furnace/weasel living outside the window room for a short period. So we ended up living in the basement....umh communal space. After a few years we were fortunate enough for Dad to purchase some be bookshelf/entertainment center/whatever it created that much needed buffer zone between us and the older "dorks" (look at their pictures from this era you will agree). Michael and I must have lived like this for many years, in the space.

How I would have loved to live in St. George 10 years earlier at least their are 8 bedrooms and enough bathrooms for more than 2 people to go at the same time. That is another story for another day, bathrooms in the goold home growing up.

Back to the space, imagine with me if you will a 14 year old girl (Sarah), a 12 year old boy (Jonathan), a 10 year old girl (Briana) and the two nomads Paul (10) and Michael (8) living in the basement of our parents home (3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and 5 stereos trying to blare each childs favorite music. This is what reminded me of this living situation. The only music mom and dad could ever hear was Paul or Michaels because we conveniently were at the bottom of the stairs so we were told to turn down the ruccus. This means for most of our adolescence we were forced to listen to the music of our older, dorkier siblings. Thus I come back to my original statement, how I do love older siblings. Their taste of music was so inspiring, a little forced but still burned that legacy in my mind. So when Sarah has her favorite 80's tunes on her blog I can't help but reminisce on why I know and love all of those songs. Thanks sis.

When you know you are older

I just figured out one more thing in life that helps you realize you are old. I happened to be on the internet and a got an email from a friend in high school. Now I knew that this was coming eventually because I am 10 years older than my littlest brother who just graduated from high school a couple of weeks ago (Congrats Eric). So since he graduated and I am 10 years older than him I have had in the back of my mind this whole last year that the first real class reunion was coming and that yes I was going to feel older once it finally hit me.

You think a lot of things when that notice does come over the web. Very interesting how nowadays we really don't depend on the US Postal Service for just about nothing pretty much junk mail and passports about every 10 years. Really is amazing how fast things come and go in the big scheme of things. Back to what went through my thick skull when I realized it was actually happening this year.
You think about
1) Where did ten years go it seems like just last week that I was walking through the PV at the Burns Arena, but also went so much further than that and did it really end then (the education)
2) What have I done with my 10 years and has it been worth it
3) How did 10 years go by so very fast can't I have 2 or 3 of those years back (redo)

Sure everyone probably has these thoughts of despair and let down like maybe they went by to fast but then I also think of all the amazing things that have happened since then. Would I change any of them for something different....no way so not worth trying to change the past, would not change my personal history for the world. So sometime this September I will be making a trip to St. George for a much needed vacation and also the chance to catch up with some very long and lost friends. Afterwards I will say thanks for these last 10 years and then I will wait with open arms for the following 10 or 15 and make the very best of what cards I am dealt.

So Eric if you ever happen upon this blog, realize that right now you are young and have the world before you. Wait it will catch up to you and one night you will be sitting in your living room, your children will be in bed and you will be checking your e-mail and you will realize that yes you are old and that life catches up to all of us. Hope you have made the best of it since you left that blessed place that we call High School.

They will say the darnest things

I thought that today I would remind everyone out there that kids really are adorable and if left to their own designs will say the darnest things.

My four year old (Ariana) thinks that she has mastered the art of driving from her car seat in the back. I have explained to her some of the basic principles of driving after getting sick of her asking the same questions over and over. One day in particular I remember when we were sitting in a traffic jam and out of the blue says "Dad it is green that means we can go". I realized at this moment that I have not explained all the key points of driving to her but yes the light was green and we could have gone through. I mentioned that we were in a sort of backed up traffic jam I said "Yes it is green and we can go if you would like to smash into the car in front of us", her response to that was "Well it is green and green means that we can go".

Another day Ariana again said something that will stick with me for a very long time. I really can't wait until Matthew (our 2 year old) starts talking because then we will be getting twice the dose. So in the car returning from eating out as a family again out of the blue and totally unsolicited Ariana says "Dad...you're a loser". At first I was a little bit shocked but could not hold back the laughter and honestly couldn't stop laughing for the next 10 minutes. She has quite a large vocabulary but has yet to hone that large vocabulary.

The last one that again knocked me off of my socks and got me in the mood for a little blogging today was right as I came out of the bathroom and finished showering. I was putting my clothes on when here comes the mincer of fine words, sniffing her whole way down the hallway until she ends up right behind me and exclaims "Something smells delicious". I was unaware myself that cologne and dinner had the same smell or even made you thing of the same words. I do love children and they are so enlightening into our lives and how delicious they really are.

Like mentioned before if the 2 year old never speaks I would be horrified at missing all the witty and uplifting things that I am sure he is waiting to say.

Saturdays

This used to be my favorite day of the week. I would wake up early to get as much free time as possible in with friends and no school. I remember doing some very interesting saturdays before leaving for my mission. One time the local wash was overflowing and a high school buddy and I thought it would be cool to get out the kayaks and pretend like we knew what we were doing. Was a way fun day but we are not kayakers and the overflowing really only had about 4 more inches of water in it than normal. So there was no possibility of doing any eskimo rolls or anything cool, rather just paddling down four inches of water.

I don't remember as a kid ever really sleeping in that late on saturdays or wasting any of that precious weekend time. Truthfully as a child most of your time is mapped out for you in school and depending on your religious views your sundays also. Seems like saturdays were pretty much the day our parents said all right your about old enough to make your own decisions so we hope that you come home when you are hungry. Also the fact that our small little town of my childhood was no more than about 20 public streets a couple of baseball fields and one very large park by the friends house that we always wanted to spend all of our time anyways. Now that I look back on my childhood I realize there was no danger in letting kids run throughout town or the outlying woods for the day because you always came back when it got dark.

Saturdays now are really like a catch-up day, not really as sought after as those Saturdays of old. Catch-up on sleep lost during the week over stress of life, job and money. I usually try not to get out of bed on Saturdays until after 11 o'clock. That is usually enough time for muscles, brains and sense to catch-up on anything lost during the week. Then the rest of the day is usually doing things that are not that fun for a man, like shopping for groceries. Don't get me wrong the kids and I try and make as much fun out of going to the supermarket as possible but that really can't beat playing in some very deep woods in Alaska.

Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was once told by an older sister that I should start a blog. I really wasn't sure why after reading what she had to say recently she seems a lot funnier. She says that the e-mails that I was sending here had some very interesting and funny genius. I don't think that they are that funny but one should always listen to what their older siblings have say, they have been around for longer and ok for some strange unexplainable reason are usually correct.

I was not sure how to start a blog and yes this is going to sound very much like what I have heard so many people say before they start blogging "What will I write, I don't have time to do this, what about the more important things that I should be doing" Well I have come to a very important realization in the last few days, after 8 o'clock when the kids go to bed what do us parents really have to do. Is there any reason to clean the house, it will be cluttered again when they wake up. Is the evening news anything different then the six o'clock, what really happens between six o'clock and ten o'clock...exactly, nothing. So what better way to spend countless hours then putting some really personal unimportant to the rest of the world thoughts down on the world wide web. Just get it out there and let anyone who wants to read what pointless things you have to say. I'm not being mean I do love reading other family members blogs keep it up they are hilarious and bring that much needed laughter to life.

So I will try and archive some of that afore mentioned comic genius for those who wish to read and if you don't like it just stop reading pretty simple principle.