The Big Weekend

Picture of the dance hall/small bar in the Overland Hotel in Pioche Nevada

Last weekend was the big Closure Mardi Gras party in Pioche Nevada. We had played Friday night at the Firehouse Club here in St. George and had to leave at 2 on Saturday to head to Pioche for the annual party. We got to Pioche about 4 our time and set up the equipment. We had a hell of a time getting the feedback to go away. The PA kept feeding back through the monitors. Talk about frustrating! Grady and I were about ready to kill each other by the time we got the sound dialed in. You can only say, "check , check" so many times before you get pretty upset. So, we got it all dialed in and went up to our rooms to get checked in. Now, the hotel is pretty old. There is a lot of history there. It has burned down and been rebuilt a couple of times if I remember correctly. The hotel reminds me of something in an old cowboy movie. Long narrow hallways, creaky stairs etc. The room we stay in every year is actually two rooms connected together. One doesn't have a window and that was the one we stayed in this time. It is really hard to get a sense of what time it is or what is going on because you can't see anything outside the room. Dustin finally got his turn in the "good" room. Anyhow, so went downstairs and they had a huge Cajun dinner. I didn't eat much cause I knew what it would do to me, and I am just not mean enough to do that to the guys in my room :) We started playing at 7 and rapped things up at about 1. Long night! By the time we were done my fingers were about to fall off! We were getting guitars packed up to go back up to the room when we found out that they gave us a huge bonus for playing. When I heard how much it was, my fingers quit hurting so bad. They treat us better in Pioche than anywhere else that we play. So, we took guitars up to the room and then we went downstairs to see what was going on up the street at the Nevada club. All the other bands had gone home, but a bunch of the people that were at our show were going to a party. They invited Grady and I so, we went and BS'd with them for a while. Sleep probably would have been better, but you can only be a rock star every once in a while so we took advantage of it! It is really nice having Grady to hang out with when we go play. The whole band kind of looks out for each other too. It is really nice. Anyway, back to Pioche in September for Labor day. Looking forward to it.

Monday Morning Again!!!!!

Hello all,
It has been a while since I have written. A lot has changed since the last blog entry. Kaelyn and I are one class away from finishing temple prep. We are getting really excited to be able to attend the temple together. Jade has pretty much forgotten about wrestling and is now completely absorbed in skateboarding. I think that it is great that he is able to have so many hobbies and friends to do them with. He really is a whole different boy lately. I am glad he is happy.
My new job is working out really well. It has taken some getting used to but I really enjoy it now. I am the wholesale parts rep for the Stephen Wade Auto Group. It is really different working for a group that gets to know you by name. I worked for Saturn for 11 years and I never met the owner . I started here and met Stephen Wade the first week on the job. I am very impressed with the way they conduct business here.
I spend most of my time on the road making sales calls. Tomorrow is my first visit to our customers in Las Vegas. It should be fun. I will also be going to Grand Junction Colorado at the end of the month. Free traveling and site seeing while you work......pretty cool.

We had a great Easter Day yesterday. We went to church and taught our nursery class then got together with Mom and Grady/Missy for a picnic. We ended up at Tonnequint park. We flew kites and played in the stream for a while. It was a good time. I haven't flown a kite since I was jades age. I really enjoyed it.

Well, I better run. I have to get on the road.

Friday Already!

I am really glad it's Friday but I can't believe the month is over already. I seems like we just had New Years Eve and January is already over. Well, not a whole lot new here is St. George. Kaelyn and I are the new junior nursery leaders at church now. It has been really fun. I really enjoy the calling and enjoy being able to work with Kaelyn. Someone told me that the nursery is the best calling in the church. I asked them why and they said that if Jesus were to come back today and walk into the church the first place he would go was to the nursery to see his little children. That really hit home with me and made me realize how important this calling really is. I had never heard it put like that before. Pretty cool.

Jade is doing awesome in school. I can't believe how well he has adapted to the new school. He has made a ton of friends. It is really fun to see him interact with other kids. He seems really happy. I am so glad that he is with us.

The band plays tonite over in Hurricane at the Eagles Club tonite. I hope that more people show up tonite than the last time we played there. I think we played to the walls last time. It has been a while since we have been out there. The band has tightened up a lot over the last few months. It seems like every gig we play, we get better. I really love playing music. It is such a stress reliever for me and heaven knows I have plenty of stress in my life. We got our new website up and going. The address is http://www.closuretheband.com. It has been a long journey to get this band to where it is at now but it has sure been fun. Gotta go.

My Little Boy Turns 10 Today!

Well, I can't believe it. Jade is turning 10 today. I sure doesn't seem like that long ago that he was just being born. Boy, how the time flys. We are going to have his birthday party tonite. It is going to be a wrestling themed party, of course. Jade is completely into WWE wrestling. It is fun for me because I remember being into wrestling when we first got cable tv in Enterprise when I was a kid. I remember sitting around with Grandpa Robinson, my Dad and brothers watching wrestling every saturday night. I also think it is good for Jade because it gives him something to keep his mind busy so he doesn't worry so much. I have invited his cousin Ty to come over for the party. Jade doesn't know he is coming. I thought that would be a good birthday surprise for him. He hasn't seen Ty for a while, since he moved from Hurricane to here. I think he will be way excited to see Ty.

As for me, well I feel kinda old today. I guess thats what happens when your little boy turns ten.

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say.......

So today I decided to write about something a little bit different. I decided to get in the Christmas mood a little bit more and write about my top 5 favorite Christmas movies. I will give you my unique take on each movie and what makes them my favorites. So, without further ado, here they are..........

#5

RUDOLF'S SHINY NEW YEAR

You have all probably seen this one. The Baby New Year gets his feelings hurt because he has enormous ears and everyone makes fun of him, so he decides to run away. Long story short, a giant clay bird is chasing him trying to keep the New Year from happening. Rudolf and pals have to hunt him down and try to return him home to ring in the new year. Pretty fun story and the clay-mation is great.

Side note: The big clay bird scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. I know, I know.........not very scary huh?

#4

A Christmas Story
One of the greatest Christmas movies of all times. Ralphie narrates the story of his childhood Christmas memories. It has everything from bullies, to BB guns, tongues getting stuck on flag poles and the "mother of all swear words" when Ralphie dumps the lug nuts on the side of road while helping his dad change a flat tire. I think my favorite part of the movie is the narrator Jean Shepard who actually co-scripted the movie based on some of his semi-autobiographical childhood experiences. I think his voice made the movie! Lots of great moments in this one.

#3

National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation"The Griswold Family Christmas. What can you really say other than awesome! This is definitely the best Lampoon movie that they have made. The movie from start to finish is funny! The whole family comes to visit the Griswold's. Chevy Chase gets locked in the attic, the cat gets blown while chewing on the Christmas lights, the Giant Christmas tree that has a squirrel living in it, the over the top Christmas lights don't light correctly, crazy Cousin Eddy dumping the RVs septic tank in the drainage system and the all time top moment of the movie when Cousin Eddy kidnaps the boss Frank Shirley on Christmas Eve after Chevy Chase rants about what he would like to do to his boss after the Christmas Bonus at work is cancelled. Very funny movie. We watched it every year on Christmas Eve. It is one of my favorite Christmas memories with the family.

#2

A Year Without A Santa Claus
I love this Christmas movie. Santa Claus decides that nobody cares if he takes a Holiday this year. So, Christmas is called off. Mrs. Claus knows that children still care about Santa, so she sends the two head elf's "Jingle" and "Jangle" out to find some Christmas cheer and motivation for Santa Claus. Along the way they run into the Heat and Snow Misers who just happen to be the best part of the whole flick. I love the war between the two of them and their songs complete with dancing "minions". Anyway, the two elf's and the people in South town USA save the day and Santa completes another Christmas Eve run. Another awesome clay-mation movie.

#1

Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer

Well, it was a close one but Rudolf made the number one spot by a "nose". This is my all time favorite Christmas movie. They don't get any better than this. I love the animation and the narration by Beryl Ives. This is a great rendition of the classic story. Rudolf's annoying nose sound, the Bumble, Yukon Cornelius, Herbie the Elf Dentist it is just too much fun. I have always loved the characters in this movie. I think the Bumble is still one of my favorite character but it is too close to call. I look forward to watching this movie tonight. I have seen it as many times as the rest of you but it never gets old. You all know the story so I am going to let it be.

I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas. Enjoy your friends and family and don't forget the reason that we really celebrate Christmas.

SNOW IN SOUTH TOWN?

Everytime it snows in St. George I think of the movie "A year without a Santa Claus". I guess because it doesn't snow here very often. So when the snow falls in "South Town" it always makes me laugh.

Jade had an awesome time in the snow. He decided to build a snowman in the backyard. It was kind of a snow/mud man. He had little gravel pieces for the eyes, nose and mouth and little stick arms. Pretty creative. I guess you make due with what you have huh?

On Sunday we went to a funeral viewing in Cedar City for my high school seminary teacher Brother Hess. He was not nearly old enough to pass away. He was my seminary teacher for all but 1 year in high school. He was also my home teaching companion and my Bishop in Enterprise when I got divorced. He really helped me through some tough times and taught me a lot about the scriptures and the church in Seminary. He will be missed by everyone that knew him. Jade wanted to stay with his great grandma while we went to the viewing so we took him out to Enoch to Granny Robin's house. He and Steve played in the snow. It was really funny to watch Steve hop around in the snow. I think he kinda liked it. After the viewing, the whole family went to Sullivan's Cafe and had dinner. It was really nice to spend time with the family. The only thing that was missing was my two little men in Wyoming. I sure miss them. It has been a huge adjustment for me not to see them every other weekend. I can't wait to see them for a while this Sunday.

Well, I better run. Gotta get some work done.

Sunday Afternoon Shooting

Jade at the Shooting Range

Kaelyn had to work all day Sunday so Jade and I decided to go out for a pickup ride on Sunday after church. So we threw a .22 in the gun rack and went for a ride into the hills behind Santa Clara. There is a nice little place where everyone goes to shoot so we decided to stop and shoot at a couple of cans. It was really nice. I love spending time with Jade. He has always kinda been my buddy. We have done stuff together since he was big enough to go with me. I remember taking him with me in my old truck when he was so small he could barely walk/talk. We took the old Yellow Truck fishing and hunting, dirt bike riding and hauling wood to the old house in Hurricane. Jade was right there helping me with all of it. He really is a good boy. I am so happy that he is living with us. Kaelyn and the boys really give me something to live for. Without them I think I would be a pretty empty shell. Kaelyn keeps me dreaming and helps me do new things and the boys make me want to be a better person. They really are a great little family. I have been very blessed. I take it for granted sometimes.

Anyhow, here are some more pics from shooting and some pics of the little boys from Thanksgiving break. Enjoy.