Thanksgiving Fun

This last week has been a lot of fun (and expensive). To start, on the 24th was Brenda's birthday. She came over for a short while and we gave her some gifts.

Looking at the picture, you can almost hear her say Ooooo. Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving at our house. Brenda and Katy, with spouses, came over about noon. Us guys had a big project planned.

Inside this massive box was a swing set for Rebekah and any other grandchildren who pay us a visit. I thought it would be a good bonding experience for Rebakah's father and uncles to work together and put this thing together.

Many of the pieces were large and luckily there really weren't an overwhelming amount of parts and construction. Us men got to work while the women folk worked in the kitchen.

Once the platform area was done I let Rebekah try the slide. She really liked it. It took no time at all for her to learn how to climb up so it was up, down, up, down. In the next picture. Steven is attaching the swing pole and Rebekah could not wait as Steven was blocking the way. You can see Rebekah trying to pull him out of the way. She quickly figured out how to squeeze in front of him. Verrrrrry Cute!

Us men folk finished the set and the women folk finished the food. We had a terrific dinner and good (interesting) conversation. Here is rare footage of my mom having an opportunity to hold Rebekah.

On Friday we went to the Pantages Theatre to see Wicked. Brenda, Mike, and Katy joined us. The play was great and squeezing three adults into the backseat wasn't easy. After the play we had a great dinner at Bennihana's. Saturday Sue and I woke up early and hit the stores. Six hours later, our feet and backs were done so we called it quits. We got a lot of shopping done. Just a few more things to get for a few people, lots to get for me. Thanks Brenda for arranging the play and dinner.

Brenda

Today is Brenda's birthday. Just like everyone else, here is my list of things about Brenda.

1. When Brenda was born it was while Sue was strattling the girney and the delivery table. Brenda was a big baby, born posterior with no doctor present. As soon as she popped out, the nurses were so concerned about Sue they handed me Brenda right out of the oven. As I held this goopy baby she slowly opened her eyes and just looked at me. I wonder what she was thinking.

2. As a baby, Brenda had very curly blonde hair. We would go to amusement parks and strangers, usually Japanese tourists, wanted a picture of her. Who knows how many photo albums in Japan her picture is in.

3. Brenda got lost two times as a young todler. First time was at Magic Mountain. Unbeknownst to me, she followed me into the restroom. When I finished resting, I walked out and Brenda was gone. We were frantically running all over looking for her when some gentleman came up to me hold Brenda and asked if this was mine. The second time was Halloween at the mall. There was at least a million people there trick or treating from store to store. Brenda followed the wrong group in the wrong direction. We found her shortly a few stores down just following the throng of kids.

4. One of our favorite stories is when she was a little baby she loved M&M's. Once she just kept popping them in her mouth until she could not chew or swallow them. She sat there with her cheeks puffed out and chocolate dripping down her chin. Another time I caught her in the bathroom when she had coated both arms solid with Desitin. Ever try getting that stuff off?

5. Her first boyfriend was a real jerk. I disliked him so much I offered Brenda $50 not to see him again. She took the offer, the money, and never did see him again. I offered a $100 for her to dump Mike but she turned me down.

6. Brenda has worked with me for over two years in the accounting department with Ameron Global. For me, this has been a great two years. We have two hours of special one-on-one time each day, although quite often Brenda is asleep on the way home. For once in my life, I have the first hand scoop about Brenda and Mike before Sue does.

7. I remember Brenda's favorite toys as a young girl were mostly dolls. She liked Strawberry Shortcake the most. Later she liked a collectors doll. We gave her one for Christmas and she was so happy.

8. In high school Brenda and Katy used to fight like crazy. Most of the time it was about clothes. They were constantly accusing each other of taking their clothes. It got so bad they each put a lock on their bedroom door. I would always tell them "Sisters are Forever". I guess it eventually worked as Brenda and Katy are really good friends.

9. Growing up Brenda always thought Katy got all the good stuff. Things were never "Fair". As a result I developed what has been known as the "Fairity Speech" where I would ramble on and on about how things may not seem fair at the time but over the long-run they always evened out.

10. As everyone knows, Brenda is a great person with a great heart. She cares about other people and always lights up a gathering. She got her good looks from her mom and he wit from her dad.

Saturday, Sue, Brenda, Mike, and I went to the LA Auto show at the convention center.

We left at 8 in the morning and drove to the North Hollywood Metro station. For future reference, the station is on Lankershim, not Laurel Canyon. So I messed up, at least I knew which trains to take. Brenda and Mike got a little frieked out about taking the subway. They live such sheltered lives. The red line connects with the blue line which has a stop at Pico just a block from the convention center. Once inside we made a beehive dash to the restrooms, then to the west showroom for the first set of cars. Our primary reason for going was for Sue to check out what kind of car she would like.

Okay, so maybe the Ferarri is not a realistic car. Sue would really look hot in one of these but we need a family car with a back seat.

I think Sue would like this car except it says "King Taco" and she is the Queen. Also no room for me. One car she wanted to look at was the Honda.

Okay, wrong Honda. She wanted to look at the Honda CRV. This is Honda's concept car.

Ah, we found the right car. Sue gave it good look over.

Sue, Brenda, and Mike gave this car a good look over too. I think she is having fun.

One car for Sue, one car for me, one car for Sue, one car for me.........

Okay, two for me. This is the car I want, the new Camaro. My first car was a 1968 Camaro and they have revitalized the feel of the old muscle car. Dodge did the same thing with the Challenger which is my second choice. These are real cars, not like a Lamborgini or Ferarri. Besides, those real expensive cars do not do well when they crash, just ask Brenda.

Another car for Sue. After a while all these mid-size SUV's started to look the same for me. Notice in almost every picture with Sue she has a car door open. Interesting!

The Camaro look pretty hot in black too. Such a tough choice. Maybe a black one for me and a silver one for Sue. Then we can switch each week. For lunch I had a hot dog that was wrapped in bacon. Surprisingly very good. We hopped on the subway to go home and just like last year, we got on the Purple line instead of the Red line. It appears the two lines share the same track and alternate. A nice gentlement on the train alerted us to the problem and we got off, took the next train and made it back to North Hollywood. First thing when we got to the car was take out the sanitary hand wipes. We had a great time.

Another Day in California

It is so much fun living in Los Angeles - NOT. This Prop. 8 thing is really disturbing in so many ways. Not just the nonsense about the LDS church, but the lack of a response by our glorious mayor and governor. Their silence is a shameful approval of the bigotry and persecution about religion, not to mention their complete disrespect for the vote and will of the people. the media is so one-sided and give the gays so much media coverage and rarely tell about the other side of the issue. This week we are enduring yet another round of fires through out the state. Locally in Sylmar and Newhall a fire is raging and the entire San Fernando Valley is entrenched in smoke. Yet with the need for our great police officers to help protect life and homes, they have been deployed to city hall because of the gay's protest. A great example that these people do not care about anything or anyone but their cause of wickedness. I am convinced they really do not even care about marriage, to them it is all about money and immoral sex.

So what is this mysterious black stuff in the picture? Is it goo from outspace, shadows, or a lame attempt at sidewalk art? This is actually a pooling of ash from the fire. This is the filth we are breathing. For some reason, probably as a result of small winds, the ash has pooled in front of our garage. There is also a collection by our front door mat. At times it looks like it is snowing outside.

Enough about the gays (literally) and the fires. Last week we took Rebekah to Toys R Us and bought her a little car. Boy did we pick out the right toy. When she comes over, the first thing she does it get into her car. It has a music box for the horn and all day long we hear it playing the songs.

Katy is about 6 weeks away from having her baby. The next few weeks should be a lot of fun. Next week we are going to the LA Auto show. Then Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving we are going to the Pantages to see Wicked. Then we approach the Christmas season. Best thing about the holidays is being together as a family.