June 2008 Photos
The June 2008 photo galleries for Berkeley, Eliana, and Olivia are now closed. We went picture happy in June as there were plenty of special events to document and record. The galleries can be reviewed at Berkeley's web site, Eliana's web site, and Olivia's web site. Or just access the galleries directly using the following links:

Berkeley's June 2008 Gallery ... (5 years, 11 months old)
Eliana's June 2008 Gallery ... (4 years, 3 months old)
Olivia's June 2008 Gallery ... (1 year, 11 months old)

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Tile Progress
The tile installation on the floor of the upper deck is going well. We are installing the same Brazilian multi-color slate that we installed in the attic bathroom and wet bar area.

So far... so good!

(Update Fri Aug 8 11:34:34 PDT 2008 // changed URL of pictures)

Random Sunday Pictures
Here are some random pictures taken today while I hung out with the kids:

Movie Review: The Golden Compass

Title:	The Golden Compass (2007)
Rating:	5/10

I have wondered what someone not familiar with the Harry Potter written material would think of the film adaptations. There is so much background material omitted that it would seem somewhat bewildering to watch the Potter films without having first read the books. I need not wonder any longer, because I experienced a strong sense of bewilderment while watching The Golden Compass this evening.

The story (if I got it straight) takes place in a world where the characters do not have souls in a traditional sense, but instead are accompanied by animal "daemons" that are living, breathing, talking companions. If the daemon feels pain, then so does the person... if the person dies, so does the daemon, etc. Another key element of the movie is the existence of some sort of magic dust that makes space travel possible (a la the spice "melange" in Dune).

The authoritarian Magisterium seeks to control all persons (and their daemons) and squash out the discussion of the magical "dust". In their quest to control the population, the Magisterium kidnaps children and sends them out to a frozen wasteland to conduct experiments on them. I have no idea why, but they just do. One such child is kidnapped, and so his friend Lyra - the main character in the movie - sets out to rescue him, befriending a whole host of characters during her journey. Eventually, Lyra finds him and rescues him... with the help of a polar bear king, a Texas-style cowboy-pilot, some gypsies, and a handful of witches.

During the last few minutes of the film we learn that Lyra's father is going to be assassinated for "dust" discovery (or something) by the Magisterium (which had already failed to eliminate him once thanks to Lyra's intervention). The presumption is that there will be a sequel to the movie in order to resolve the disclosure of the assassination plot. Ho hum.

Summary: Uninspiring and confusing.

"Hello Dan"
I slept hard last night, but was up at the sound of Eliana wandering around the house. I got up and found her and give her big hugs and kisses. Olivia was soon up as well. When she saw me she just simply said:

"Hellodan."

Suddenly I understood what Olivia had been trying to communicate to me over the phone all last week. For whatever reason, when Olivia got on the phone to talk to me, she would begin her conversation by saying "hellodan". But what she intended to say - "Dad" - she was pronouncing as "Dan"; she was also running the two words together so that it just sounded like an unintelligible three-syllable word... "hellodan". But I finally get it... "Hello Dad".

All day today she called me "Dan":

"Hi Dan."

"Thank you Dan."

"I have poo-poos Dan."

If she uses "Daddy" in a sentence, she does pronounce it correctly (e.g. "Hello Daddy" - not "Hello Danny"). But for now... I'm "Dan" around here.

Back At Home; Grandma Kiser
Berkeley and I flew back home this evening. We had a late flight. Berkeley was a trooper on the plane, but he was pretty tired by the time we were back in the car. I don't think we put 1 mile between us and the airport before he was already fast asleep. It's good to be home. I'm a bit tired too.

Just before our return back home, the hospital in Delta, Colorado called my Mom and informed us that Grandma Kiser had a significant stroke this evening. She was found in a parking lot of a restaurant slumped over, leaning against the steering column, the car still running. The friend she was having dinner with found her and immediately called for medical help. It is presumed that she wasn't there too long and that the quick administration of treatment will prevent irreparable brain damage from developing ... and thank heavens the stroke didn't occur while she was traveling on the road.

The initial report from the hospital is that Grandma is responsive and can speak, but is unable to move any part of the right hand side of her body except for her big toe. She can talk, but her speech is slurred. Mom and Dad are driving over tomorrow after they pick up Aunt Anadeane from the airport in the morning. Bryan is going to drive over too. Grandma turned 90 last September and is fiercely independent. I hope she makes a full recovery, but it will likely involved several months of physical therapy.

Sky High on the Wall
Berkeley and I enjoyed dinner over at my friend Dave's house. Dave and Heather prepared for us a very delicious salmon dinner. Afterward, the kids played around until it was dusk. Dave used a business projector and a composite video connection to project a movie on the outside back wall of his house. The movie? Sky High. Dave's entire family (for the most part) showed up... including the families of Cindy, Karen, Richard, Deanna, and Carolyn. Including the neighbor kids, there was probably about 30 kids there and 20 adults. It was a lot of fun (I'll have to investigate purchasing a projector and do the same thing back at home).

Bowling with Robert and Jess
Tonight Berkeley and I went bowling with Kristy's brother Robert and his wife Jessica. (Here is a bit of trivia: my kids have two Aunt Jessicas... one married Kristy's youngest brother, and one married my youngest brother.) Aunt Jessica (Sorenson) summarized the bowling action here. After bowling, we stopped by the Iceberg in Bountiful for milkshakes (which Berkeley proudly announced was his 2nd milkshake of the day).

Visiting Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum
Berkeley and my Dad traveled up to Hill Air Force Base to visit the Hill Aerospace Museum. Berkeley said he had a fun time. My Dad supplied the pictures below (taken on his camera phone):

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Waterproofing the Deck
A team of masons showed up today to lay down the tile backer board and then put the first of two coats of waterproofing over the entire deck (the red stuff). After the second coat is completely dry, then the tile install will start (possibly as early as Friday).

(Update Fri Aug 8 11:34:34 PDT 2008 // changed URL of pictures)

Train Ride with Grandpa
My Dad took Berkeley, Ryan, and Reese for a train ride up to Ogden... well, that was the intent anyway. Apparently there was a malfunction with the train engine they were on and they were forced to wait on the tracks for about an hour until alternate transportation was arranged by UTA. After such a long wait, Dad and the kids just turned around and came back home. Here are a couple of snaps that my Dad sent me:

Day At Seattle Center
Kristy took the girls down to Seattle Center today. The girls played on some of the rides at the base of the Space Needle and then they were able to ascend up to the top of the needle itself. Fun fun! Here are the pics:

Tyler's Fan Club
After work today I picked up Berkeley and Ryan (from Mark) and we drove over to watch Tyler's Baseball game.

Pictured from left to right: me, Brielle (age 6), Ryan (age 6), Tyler (age 10), Berkeley (age 5).

After the game, the three of us dropped by Wendy's for some dinner. Ryan is spending the night with us at my Mom and Dad's house. Despite the fact that Berkeley and Ryan are sharing a bed... they went right to sleep. Good boys.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Deck Framing Complete
The deck framing is now complete. We made Baxton redo the deck walkway because the way he built it produced a small bump in the transition between the deck walkway and the main deck areas. If you look closely at the picture on the left (see below), you will note that the seam is now flush with the deck on both sides. Before today, the deck walkway was a little higher (by about ½")... the strategy Baxton had to rectify this was to smooth it out with mortar. But we ixnay'd that plan. The second picture illustrates the effect of the elevation change on the deck walkway corner drain... it was pushed down by about a half of an inch.

Baxton also framed the patio fireplace in today... see below:

Mom/Dad's 40th Anniversary
Berkeley and I flew to Utah this morning. I am here for work and I brought along Berkeley so he can spend some 1-on-1 time with Grandma and Grandpa. I timed my work trip to coincide with my Mom and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary (ruby); they were married 40 years ago today. To celebrate, the Berrett family gathered at Mark/Jen's house for a dinner. Everyone was there with the exception of my girls (Kristy, Eliana, and Olivia). We enjoyed each others company and the kids had a great time playing together. Berkeley was especially happy to see his Berrett cousins.

Before today I had not been to Mark/Jen's new home in Alpine... they moved almost a year ago. It is a nice place and is located immediately next to Burgess Park in Alpine (UT). The park includes 5 baseball diamonds, a huge open soccer field, 2 sand volleyball courts, 2 tennis courts, a basketball court, a walking trail, and several children's play areas. From the kitchen nook window, Mark and Jen can see the basketball court and the tennis courts just on the other side of the fence on the west side of their property. Imagine taking all of the parks on the Sammamish plateau, merging them together, and then placing that "mega-park" smack dab next to our house... that would be the equivalent of what Mark and Jen enjoy. It's amazing.

Video Game Review: Lego Star Wars
It has been exactly one month since Berkeley paid 130 Tokens to purchase Lego Star Wars. We have been playing it on most Saturdays since... including today. It's a simple little game with a linear storyline that closely follows the narratives of the Star Wars movies. Both Berkeley and Eliana like to play. Some of the levels that require lots of jumping from ledge to ledge are difficult for Berkeley and far beyond the fine motor skill level of Eliana. But they still have a lot of fun playing the easier levels on "free play" where they get to decide what characters to use. Eliana always picks one of the female characters (e.g. Padme Amidala), and Berkeley usually picks Darth Maul (because Maul wields two light sabers).

Berkeley and I have played through the first two episodes of the six available. We were playing the first or second stage of the third episode today and came to a part where we became stuck. After trying a few different things (at my direction and suggestion) we remained stuck. Berkeley then suddenly had an idea ("I know, let's use one of our friends! R2D2!"), which worked, and we were able to progress. It was kind of funny really... he showed me up - bigtime. He thought nothing of it; it was "just a good idea [he] had".

Summary: Very fun game for the kids and to play with the kids.

Movie Review: Jumper

Title:	Jumper (2007)
Rating:	5/10

The movie Jumper starts with a scene of an unsure adolescent boy (read "geek") on a snow-covered school ground (at a school bus stop presumably) awkwardly giving a token of his affection to a girl (a snow globe). An antagonistic male classmate intervenes, steals the snow globe, mocks the gift, and then throws it onto the thin ice of a nearby river. While attempting to retrieve the gift, the young boy falls through the ice and the river current sweeps him downstream away from the opening. He seems doomed to drown, but suddenly teleports himself to the town library. Thus begins the mythology of the "jumper".

With his new-found power, the young "jumper" decides to leave his abusive (motherless) home and set out to make a life of his own. To make ends meet, he discovers a new found talent for robbing banks by teleporting inside the safe (he must first see the inside of the safe before he can teleport there). After a few years, the young boy grows up into Hayden Christensen (aka Anakin Skywalker). He soon discovers that his way of life is not welcomed by a group of "paladins" (led by Samuel L. Jackson) that hunt down jumpers and kill them. The paladins have found out his hideout and a world-wide chase ensues. He is captured and then freed by his long-lost mother, a paladin herself. After regaining his freedom, he teams up with another jumper and fights a handful of paladins (including Jackson). After he defeats them, he find his long-lost mother and has a little visit with her. And then the movie pretty much ends without resolving anything. Very lame.

Summary: A movie much like Highlander but without the rich exploration of the historical mythology and a very lame ending. There was a lot of potential here for a much better movie.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Deck Plywood Down
The upper deck plywood is now completely installed. I took a walk out on the deck; the view is commanding.... I love it. However, we have discovered that the massive deck blocks out much of the sunlight that would otherwise enter the kitchen window (and the rear door windows). This is good and bad. The kitchen will stay a bit cooler; but the kitchen is now a bit darker... and the black cabinets soak up a lot of what sunlight does get in. Oh well.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Progress Obstruction
We hit a snag in what we thought would be a very straightforward project. There is a beam that runs along the bottom plate of our master bedroom exterior wall. The beam is there to carry the load over the family room downstairs because the family room exterior wall sticks out about two feet from the rest of the rear elevation of the house. The beam is listed on the original house plans and we would have discovered this before the project began had we thought to consult them... and the beam depth is right there on the plan too... 18 inches deep! The floor joists between our first and second floors are 12 inches; the difference of 6 inches is what we would need to notch out of the top of the beam in order to fit the doorway in our bedroom window. But we can't notch the beam unless we add strength below the beam... like a steel I-beam or something. We are exploring our options... even the idea of abandoning the door in the master bedroom altogether. I am very dismayed. More later I'm sure.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Joists Hung
All of the joists for the deck are now hung. The resulting structure is massive... but it does not overpower the house, it seems to fit just right. The ceiling of the patio will be about 11 feet from the patio floor, and the height of the deck floor will be 12 feet off the ground. We can see Pine Lake from the deck... which is a nice option. Here are a couple of pictures:

45 New Nuclear Reactors by 2030?
It is abundantly clear that energy policy will be the key issue in the upcoming 2008 presidental election. The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas will likely be north of $5/gallon by then. Today, presumptive republican presidental nominee John McCain declared that he wants to build 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030. A position I wholeheartedly endorse... as does Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore (see here).

McCain Sets Goal of 45 New Nuclear Reactors by 2030
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: June 19, 2008

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Senator John McCain said Wednesday that he wanted 45 new nuclear reactors built in the United States by 2030, a course he called "as difficult as it is necessary."

In his third straight day of campaign speechmaking about energy and $4-a-gallon gasoline, Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, told the crowd at a town-hall-style meeting at Missouri State University that he saw nuclear power as a clean, safe alternative to traditional sources of energy that emit greenhouse gases. He said his ultimate goal was 100 new nuclear plants.

Mr. McCain has long promoted nuclear reactors, but Wednesday was the first time that he specified the number of plants he envisioned.

Currently there are 104 reactors in the country supplying some 20 percent of electricity consumed. No new nuclear power plant has been built in the United States since the 1970s.

"China, Russia and India are all planning to build more than a hundred new power plants among them in the coming decades," Mr. McCain said in this pocket of Missouri that is reliably Republican. "Across Europe there are 197 reactors in operation, and nations including France and Belgium derive more than half their electricity from nuclear power. And if all of these nations can find a way to carry out great goals in energy policy, then I assure you that the United States is more than equal to the challenge."

[...]

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Mr. McCain's chief domestic policy adviser, said Mr. McCain had arrived at the goal of 45 as consistent with his desire to expand nuclear power, "but not so large as to be infeasible given permitting and construction times."

In recent years, I have been voting for candidates primarily based on what I judge to be reasonable foreign policy (which is pretty much the opposite of President Bush's foreign policy positions). I definitely side with Obama on foreign policy (Senator McCain's foreign policy is identical to that of President Bush). However, Senator McCain just might win me over with his energy policy.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Deck Framing Started
Today Baxton was able to stand up the posts and hoist the beam into place. He will hang the 2x12 LVL joists tomorrow. He is progressively tapering each joist such that water on the deck will flow to the corners. At the corners will be a drain that will connect to a drain pipe hidden within the post façade. The drain pipe is already stubbed out through the post footing and connects to our existing storm water drainage system. It's sound like it will be a pretty slick system. Baxton has built a ton of these decks... in fact, he said my deck is the fourth one he has built already this year. He said he built about twelve or so last year.

Here is a picture of the column and the posts... with a couple of the joists already hung.

Tomorrow Baxton will take off that small roof over the area where our family room juts out from the rear elevation of the house and hang all of the joists.

Berkeley's Last Day of Kindergarten
Berkeley's last day of kindergarten was today... summer vacation officially has begun. After school, some (other) parents organized a picnic/lunch/party for the class at nearby Beaver Lake park. Most if not all of his classmates were present. I think his class size is about 17 or 18 kids. Many siblings were there as well, including Eliana and Olivia. Since Kristy works on Wednesday, I took the kids myself (I was the only adult male there). Here are some pictures... including one of Berkeley with his teacher, Mrs. Weber:

A note on Olivia's leopard print purse: last week I left the diaper bag down at Laura's place. In its place we decided to have Olivia carry around a spare diaper and small amount of wipes in that little leopard print purse. Laura has since returned the diaper bag (just this past Sunday), but Olivia still wants to carry around the purse.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Footings Poured
The footings for the patio deck support columns and fireplace were poured today. We expanded the footprint of the foundation somewhat to simplify the patio/grass border. This will make it easier to keep it watered and trimmed... plus we get another 2 feet of patio space.

The concrete should be cured sufficiently by tomorrow to start building the structure. The beam that will support the structure is pictured above (resting on the sawhorses).

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Footings Framed
Baxton and Mike arrived this morning and dug up the old trellis post footings and prepared new ones for the new posts and the fireplace. Baxton will pour the footing tomorrow and then start framing the new deck on Wednesday.

We also had all of the lumber delivered today. So there are two big piles of lumber sitting on our driveway... just like old times.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Furnished
With the delivery of our new game table, our new attic area is finally completely furnished (this post will be the final entry for the project). The new game table and chairs are absolutely beautiful. Not only that, but the chairs are quite comfortable... I mean, I was surprised at how comfy they are. I'm very impressed. The furniture was manufactured by Guy Chaddock. We have more than a dozen other pieces of furniture by Guy Chaddock and all of the pieces are fantastic; I highly recommend the company.

I snapped a few pictures today in the afternoon. It was bright and sunny today, so there are a few photos where the sunshine is dominating the exposure. Also, I didn't take any pictures of the audio/video entertainment area, since I took pictures of that very recently (see here). So first of all, here are a few snapshots of the "adult" play area... including the new game table and the billiards table. This area is in the middle of the attic space immediately in front of the stair entry/exit.

The rest of the pictures I have organized by the position I took the pictures as I navigated around the room in a counterclockwise path:

This is a shot of the finished playhouse. This was one of those ideas that just came to us on the fly as the framers were putting up the interior walls. The playhouse has a double dutch door (that includes a mechanical door ringer), two windows (complete with shutters, window boxes, and plastic flowers), a mailbox (with a little red flag), an exterior light, house numbers, real wood shingle siding, and a fake slate roof. The shingle siding is nicely trimmed around a couple of light switches for the room, an electrical receptacle, and an in-house vacuum connection. It looks great and is a wonderful little part of the attic that the kids feel was made just for them... the kids love it, especially Olivia.

The front windowed dormer is a dedicated play area for the doll house, rocking horse, and wooden pirate ship. The drawer storage houses dolls and furniture for the doll house, barbies, and polly pockets. On the right hand side of this area is the entrance to the playhouse. On the left hand side of the area are two doors. Once small door (pictured) which access a small toy storage closet. The other door is for the powder bathroom.

On the wall next to the playhouse door, Kristy painted a "growing tree" that we will use to keep track of how tall the kids grow (making a mark for height on each birthday). We used to have a "growing vine" down in the old bonus room, but that didn't survive the remodel. So this painting is its replacement. Olivia is having fun here on the rocking horse. Say cheese Livy!

Inside the playhouse we have some play kitchen appliances and a toy crib and other toy baby gear. There is also a small bistro table and two toddler-sized chairs in the near corner (the picture shows the top of one of the chairs). Kristy will be doing some custom painting in this room eventually. She wants to paint a fireplace on the back wall and perhaps a bookcase or something.

On the southern side of the attic, there is another play table area for trains, legos, and toy cars. This play table is primarily used by Berkeley, but Olivia is often seen playing with the train tracks as well. Pictured at left is a small built-in shelf in the corner where we keep puzzles, kids games, and other small knick-knacks. This play table and the carpet beneath are identical in size to the play table just outside the playhouse that has the doll house and wood pirate ship.

This is a picture taken in the southeast corner of the attic (next to the train play table) looking back toward the northeast corner of the attic (toward the TV area). In the immediate foreground is the staircase. In the background, the billiards table, game table, and TV can be seen.

In between the three rear dormers are two small closets that will be used for storage. In the closet closest to the southern wall and the kids play areas is a small clothes rack that we use to store dress up stuff. The clothes rack is mounted on wheels and easily rolls in and out of the closet. Eliana loves this.

This is a picture of the middle dormer window seat and trundle bed. In each of the window seats and trundle bed is a twin-sized Tempur-pedic memory foam mattress. The attic has a sleeping capacity of 6 persons for any future sleep-overs on mattresses (plus more on the sofa and in sleeping bags the playhouse).

This is a picture taken from the northwest corner of the attic looking back toward the southwest corner, e.g. it is the opposite view of the picture taken above. The game table and billiards table are show in the foreground of this picture and the train play table can be seen on the other side of the staircase.

The bar nook is tucked in the northwest corner of the room. The area features a small bar-sized copper sink, a mini-microwave, and an under-counter refrigerator and ice-maker. The solid-surface countertop and floor tile are both Brazilian multi-color slate. If you pull the refrigerator out, there is access to a small area behind the audio/video equipment for the benefit of running cables.

Happy Father's Day!
Today is Father's Day... a day I get to have breakfast in bed, presents, etc. Here are the kids crawling all over me this morning.

The kids gave me some hand-made art and stuff and Kristy gave me some new summer clothes as well as some new camera gear that I had on my wishlist; namely, a 50mm lens and a fancy flash.

In the evening, we had Kristy's family over for a steak barbecue. This was probably the first big gathering we have had since we completed the attic. We spent much of the evening up there in the attic. While the kids played and watched some movies, the adults playing board games (on the new game table) and billiards. It was a good day.

Theater Review: Aida
Kristy and I were given tickets to see "Aida" tonight at the Village Theater down in Issaquah (a local review of the production is available at Broadway2Seattle).

The musical is about a love triangle between a high-ranking Egyptian general (Radames), his betrothed (Amneris, the heir to the Egyptian crown), and a Nubian princess (Aida). Radames captures Aida while on a military campaign. Unaware of Aida's nobility, Radame gives her to his fiancée Amneris as a gift. Eventually, Radame and Aida fall in love. Meanwhile, Aida's father (the Nubian king) is captured in battle and sentenced for execution. With the help of Aida and Radame, the king escapes. Amneris discovers their affair and their treason; the wedding is canceled and Radame and Aida are sentenced to death.

I was very impressed with the professional value of the production. The voice talent and the stage direction was splendid... far superior than what I was expecting (this was my first time attending the Village Theater). The venue is also located conveniently to a restaurant (the name of which escapes me now). Before the show we ordered some dessert at the restaurant and it was available for us to eat during intermission. Nice option.

Despite the excellence of the venue and talent, I was not endeared to the musical itself and did not find it memorable. In fact I can't think of a single stanza from the musical now to hum or sing to myself. As a whole, the music was uneven and eclectic and seemed to mix gospel, R&B, and rock-n-roll in a haphazard way. The selections sung by Radame's father seemed especially out of place from the rest of the score. Now, I know my Dad reads my blog (my Dad is a big-time musical afficiando); I called him earlier today and asked him about the musical: "One of my favorites" ... "I've seen it 4 or 5 times."

Sorry Dad... I just didn't like it that much. Thumbs down.

Last T-Ball Game
Berkeley's last T-ball game was held today. For their final game, they were able to play on a "real" baseball field complete with a dugout (all the other T-ball games have been played in an open field at a nearby elementary school). They also lined up on the 3rd base line before the game while the national anthem played.

After the game the league presented each T-ball player with a good sportsmanship medal. He also received a participation trophy from the team. Berkeley was pretty happy to have both and wore his medal for the rest of the day. After the game there was a party for the team, but we were unable to stay since we had previous commitments (we had tickets to the kids symphony).

I also snapped a few pictures of Berkeley's biggest fans:

Hanging Out With Dad
Masins Furniture called us yesterday to inform us that our Guy Chaddock table and chairs has arrived. Sweet! They were going to arrange for delivery next week, but I asked if I couldn't pick them up today myself. We are having a family party here on Sunday (Father's Day), so it would be nice to have the pieces here to enjoy. The table and chairs will be primarily used as a game table in the attic. This morning I rented a small moving truck (from U-Haul) and drove to Seattle and to pick them up. My companion for the drive was one Miss Eliana Berrett who, early this morning, asked me:

"Dad, can I hang out with you today?"

And so I took her with me.

She was very chatty during the drive and seemed to enjoy the ride thoroughly. The elevated seats and sparse cab of the moving truck seemed to give her a great deal of satisfaction, as if she was driving is a huge 18-wheeler. We were done with our errand in just over an hour.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Demolition
Baxton and Mike arrived on-site today to start our new project. They completely tore down the old trellis. All we have now are pictures to remember it by. Next week construction starts in earnest.

Finding A Safe Place to Sleep
After watching Invincible tonight, we checked in on the kids and found that Eliana was not in her bed. This isn't uncommon. Sometimes she will crawl down under her bed and fall asleep claiming she did so because she is scared. But tonight she was not anywhere in her room. After searching for quite a few minutes, we finally found her... fast asleep under our bed.

(Apologies for the poor image quality, it was tight quarters... I barely fit under the bed frame side supports.)

Movie Review: Invincible

Title:	Invincible (2006)
Rating:	7/10

Kristy and I saw the trailer for Invincible during our screenings of the Pirates 2 and Pirates 3 movies. It look interesting enough to both of us that we decided to bubble it up to the top of our on-line Blockbuster queue. We watched the movie tonight. It was quite good, we both enjoyed it very much.

The movie is based on the true story of Vincent Papale (played by Mark Wahlberg), a former professional football player for the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite not having played any college football, then 30-yr-old Papale tried out for the Eagles during an open workout and made the team. It's a movie made in the same vein as The Rookie and Rocky... about a local down-on-his-luck nobody that makes it to the big time. Even if the story was embellished somewhat, it was still pleasing to watch and fun to root for Papale to succeed.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is just a variation of my tollhouse variation that I previously published.

2 cups flour
¼ cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
14 T butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place rack in center position and preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Beat butter and sugar in mixer until creamy (but don't overbeat). Add egg and vanilla and combine. On the lowest speed possible, slowly beat in flour mixture until the dough just sticks together (use very light hands with the dough from this point forward). Stir in chocolate chips by hand. Gently form tablespoon-sized balls of dough and drop directly onto hollow center heavy-gauge dull aluminum baking sheet. The baking sheet should be at room temperature. (I rotate batches of cookies using two baking sheets.) Refrigerate dough between batches. Bake for about 10 minutes using non-convection heat and then another 4 minutes with convection heat to product a crispy cookie exterior. The dark color of the cookie dough makes it hard to know when they are done; so use your best judgement (e.g. guess)... but be sure not to overbake! Allow to cool on sheet for one minute, then transfer to a wire rack.

Eliana's Last Day of Preschool
Eliana finished her first year of preschool today (she still has one more year until she starts Kindergarten). She came home with a "certication of completion" and her teacher (Miss Louise) e-mailed us a picture:

She also came home with a book of projects she has completed this past year some of which included pictures taken at the time the project was completed. I must confess that she looked a lot younger back in September. She really has grown quite a lot... she looks less and less like a toddler and more and more like a "little big girl" (as Eliana puts it).

There are a few projects in the book that are classic Eliana; such as the name she gave her teddy bear at school: "Princess Cinderella Bear". Another project that stood out to me was "I wish I had one hundred..." Eliana's response to the question? "100 dress-ups".

I believe that preschool has been a net positive for Eliana. She has met some new friends, she experienced a framework of structure outside of her home where she was expected to perform tasks and behave in a certain way, and she had a lot of fun. Next year Eliana will go to preschool 4 half-days a week (instead of 3 half-days), and she will have the same teachers Berkeley had last year.

"I Smell It"
Olivia is really progressing with her language vocalization. In particular she loves to declare what she is going to do using sentences that start with the pronoun "I" (e.g. "I do it"). One of the funny "I" things she does is "I smell it." If I'm making something in the kitchen, then she'll often push a stool over to the counter next to where I am working and ask "I smell it Daddy?" The vocalized judgment that follows is either "mmmm!" or "yucky!".

The question of smell has also become part of the diaper changing routine. For example, today I had lying Olivia on the bathroom floor while I held her feet up to change her diaper:

"Phew... that diaper stinks!", I said.

"I smell it Daddy?"

(I held the diaper full of poop near her nose. It smelled pretty bad.)

"Yucky!"

Every time she's changed. Seriously... every time. It's almost as if she expects one of the diapers to smell good one day.

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda

Title:	Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Rating:	6/10

We took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda today. It is a fun little film... nothing too serious... very formulaic... and a feel good ending. Perfect for the kids. Berkeley and Eliana were quoting it all the way home and into the evening ("Skadoosh!").

The story is pretty straightforward. Jack Black voices a panda that works in a family noodle shop run by his Dad.. The panda's Dad is a stork (an explanation of this is never given). But the panda is a big-time kung-fu fan and really isn't interested in taking over the noodle shop from his Dad. Instead he dreams of becoming a kung-fu master. And as luck would have it, he is selected somewhat accidentally (but wait, "there are no accidents") to be the "dragon warrior" that will save the village from a villain that has recently escaped from prison. The panda, woefully out-of-shape, must train and master kung-fu in order to save the nearby villages.

To Wit... Helping Out at the Vikari's Home
I spent the evening over at the Vikari's home. The Vikaris live just a few houses away and are fellow members of our LDS ward. Art has had some recent serious health problems; in fact, Art is lucky to be alive. Unfortunately, Art's recovery has been slow (but steady). He can now walk (with assistance), but he will likely never be able to work in the same capacity that he once did (as an oral surgeon) As a result, the Vikari lifestyle has been changing dramatically and their temporal needs are great.

For example, their yard had been neglected for the past 7 months. In order to showcase the home for future sale and with a potential buyer expressing interest for a whirlwind site visit tomorrow, the yard must be cleaned up and cleaned up today. But with resources low and with time running out, how will such a task get accomplished? Well, how about via 75-100 members of the local LDS ward? Seriously. I counted. I, like just about everyone else in the ward, got the e-mail requesting help this morning. It was a last second kind of thing... but still a tremendous response followed. As I noted yesterday (see The 30-Year House), the Vikaris are considered family by virtue of the fact that they live within a village of other LDS folks defined by some arbitrary geographical boundary. Is such an organizational structure crazy? Or is it genius?

The 30-Year House
We had the Arnesen family over for dinner tonight. They have a daughter, Kiana, that is good friends with Eliana. I can still distinctly remember when the Arnesens moved into the ward... which was back when Eliana was still in Nursery (in LDS congregations, optional nursery care and supervision is available for children from age 18 months to age 3). At the time, Eliana was the only girl her age in nursery among a group of 10 or so little boys. Needless to say, I was thrilled that Eliana would not be the only girl in her Primary class. Kiana is 8 months younger than Eliana... so Kiana and Eliana will be in the same Primary class growing up, but won't be in the same school grade. So, yeah, anyway... we had them over today. The Arnesens are good people. We like them.

We were talking with Spencer and Kathy about just general stuff when Spencer mentioned that the house that they live in is their "30-Year House", e.g. the house that they will be in for the rest of their lives. We feel the same way about our own house (especially after making major renovations); we will live here for at least 30 years, if not longer. Because we belong to the same LDS ward unit, I suspect that this will not be the last time we spend an evening with the Arnesens.

I've covered this topic before (see "The Perpetual Salmon Bake"). The organization of the LDS Church is unique in that it is based on geography. LDS members are not free to choose a random LDS church meetinghouse to attend (e.g. based on where other family members attend or the personality of the local church leader)... thus, despite the fact that Kristy's brother Scott lives only about 5 miles away, he and his family attend church at a different building and with a completely different set of 200 or 300 "strangers" (if you will) that live closer to him than we do. LDS members attend church with those that live within a boundary that is decided by someone other than the local LDS membership. Our own ward boundary (roughly) follows the public school district boundary for two of the local elementary schools. Thus, our kids go to school and church with the same group of kids.

I personally think that the arbitrary nature of the geographic-based organization is wonderful. When an LDS member moves into a home that lies within our boundary, they becomes members of our ward. It doesn't matter where that person moved from. They could have moved from halfway around the world, but it doesn't matter... because they will be instantly integrated into the local ward congregation. The result is that any member of an LDS ward has a "family" or a network of 200 or 300 other persons that (in general) genuinely care about the welfare of that person. When times get tough for one member, the rest of the ward members unite to assist. It takes a village (as they say).

Now, for me, no matter what anyone thinks about the LDS Church Doctrine (true or otherwise) or their belief in God (that He exists or otherwise) the membership in an LDS Ward - all other considerations aside, both good and bad - is in and of itself well worth the price of admission imho. The Arnesens (and the other families in our ward) will be for my kids what the Dallons and the Seamons and the Ereksons and the Wiersdorfs and the Soffes and the Bairds and the dozens of other families were for me... in the LDS ward that I grew up in. And so, as a result, the Arnesen family is our family... at least for the next 30 years.

Biff's Pot Roast
A very easy Sunday meal... prepare this in the morning and let it cook all day. It will fill up the house with a wonderful aroma.

One 7-8 lb beef chuck pot roast
6 to 8 medium-sized potatoes
Several carrots
One large onion
A couple cloves of garlic
About 8 ounces of red wine
One small bouquet garni
Some water
salt
pepper

Cut onion and carrots into ½-inch chunks. Place in bottom of crockpot with minced garlic. Add wine and herbs. Add enough water (or more wine) to cover onions and carrots. Place roast on top of onion, carrots, and herbs. Peel potatoes. Cut potatoes into chunks and pack around the side of the roast. Add salt and pepper. Turn crock pot on high. Slow cook for about 5-6 hours.

For gravy: drain liquid into liquid measuring cup. Add water equal to half measured liquid volume. Whisk in 1 tsp flour for every 1 cup liquid and transfer to saucepan. Bring to boil and stir constantly until slightly thickened.

Serve meat with tomato relish. I like the stuff that was always in my Grandma Berrett's fridge called "Homade Chili Sauce" that is packaged in a clear glass spherical jar with a white cap. (Look for it at the Pine Lake QFC next to the BBQ sauces at the end of the aisle.)

Restaurant Review: Kidd Valley

Restaurant:	Kidd Valley
Cuisine:	Hamburgers, Fries, Shakes
Rating:	Some of the best burgers in Western Washington
Price:	$20-$25 for two adults, two kids
Location:	Queen Anne, Safeco Field, Bellevue, and several others

The bitter disappointment of our recent visit to Triple X a couple of days ago prompted us to visit the Queen Anne location of Kidd Valley tonight (before we attended the Storm Game). The small Kidd Valley chain is a solid hamburger fixture in Western Washington, regularly winning "Best of..." surveys in the local newspapers and magazines. Kidd Valley puts together a fine burger. They also have excellent hand-made onion rings, fried button mushrooms, and milk shakes. This is Kristy's favorite place for a burger and is definitely in my top three.

Pro Tip: The Kidd Valley stuff served at Safeco is not as good as the restaurants. Try the Bellevue or University District locations... I've had the best luck there.

Storm Game
We attended a Seattle Storm game tonight as a family after first stopping off at the Queen Anne Kidd Valley in Queen Anne for some burgers. All of the kids had a really good time at the game. I think both Berkeley and Eliana watched the entire affair and cheered for the Storm as loud as they could. Berkeley kept a close eye on the score, announcing "the Storm have XX points Daddy!" after each Storm basket.

Berkeley also participated (for the first time) in the "kids train" during a time-out late in the game. Basically what happens is that late in the game - during an extended timeout - a specific song is played (the title of which I do not know) while the Storm mascot is down on the center of the playing floor. All of the kids in the stands can then come down to the floor behind the mascot and form a train. The song will play for about 60 seconds and then an air-raid siren sound is made and the kids quickly disperse and return to their respective seats. Without fail, there are a few kids that get confused in the ensuing chaos and can't quite remember which aisle they came down. So, anyway, Berkeley decided he wanted to go down to the floor when the music started but wanted Kristy or I to go with him. But we both declined and asked him just to do it my himself... "But I'm shy Daddy." was the response iirc. After about 10 seconds though he mustered up the courage to do it my himself, and after the music ended he did in fact successfully manage to find his way back to our seats (both Kristy and were sitting somewhat nervously on the edge of our seats to see if he could accomplish that feat). I'm proud he was able to do that by himself, he really had to step outside of his comfort zone to do something he wanted to do.

So it was a nice evening; a good family-night out.

So we have been going to WNBA games every season since the WNBA started... dating way back to when we lived in Utah in the late 90s. I know a lot of people think the WNBA is somewhat of a joke. People I know (*cough* my brothers-in-law, *cough* people at my church) won't even consider going to a WNBA game. But they never give any reasonable excuses. Yes, they will cite that the game is "too slow" (e.g. that the WNBA women aren't as quick or as athletic as their NBA counterparts... for example, there is no above-the-rim play in the WNBA). And I've heard the concerns about the fact that the largest fan demographic in attendance at the Storm games are lesbians. Blah blah blah. It's idiotic.

The fact of the matter is... the WNBA games are fun, they are entertaining, and they are family-friendly. As a father of three young kids (two of which are young girls), I feel that the WNBA game has a lot to offer my family. The games are relatively cheap to attend (especially compared to ticket prices for men's professional sports), there is much less alcohol consumed, and the "Storm dance squad" is comprised of kids (instead of the 20-something barely-dressed "Sonics Cheerleaders"). I've said this all before, but maybe I need to say it again.

With respect to the talent level, the WNBA is just 10 years old. WNBA players today (on average) are better than they were 10 years ago. And in 10 years time (when my girls are in middle school and possibly playing basketball), they'll be even better still. How long has the NBA been around? Over 60 years! Have you ever seen an old NBA game on ESPN classic from the 50s and 60s? It doesn't even look close to the NBA game played today... the NBA game has gotten faster, the players are far more athletic, etc. How many of today's NBA players were inspired by Michael Jordan? I predict that the same thing will happen in the WNBA too. The game will get faster and the talent level will increase dramatically as today's young women are growing up watching the Sue Birds and Lauren Jacksons of today's WNBA game.

Yet comparing the NBA game with the WNBA game (despite the similar acronyms) is not fair... apples and oranges kind of thing. It's not the same game; but it is the same sport. When little girls (and boys) grow up loving the game, it benefits the sport at large... no matter what level of play that you enjoy watching (professional, college, AAU, etc)... or whether the sport is played by men or women. I'm pretty sure that Olivia and Eliana will never be my WNBA-Superstar-Meal-Ticket (or that Berkeley will be a High-Paid-WNBA-Coach), but having them watch women participating in the highest level of competition - on their own terms - is inspirational. If you are fan of basketball, then you should be a fan of the WNBA.

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Title:	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Rating:	2/10

At about the half-hour mark into Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End I hit the "Display" button on the PS3 to see how much longer I had to endure this incredibly insipid movie... just a mere 2½ more hours! I was pretty tempted to turn it off right there... really tempted in fact. But I figured if I added the half hour I had already wasted to the 2½ hours of Pirates 2, that I was already more than halfway through the thing and I may as well slug on ahead. It now seems obvious to anyone that watched this movie and Pirates 2, that the Pirates franchise has now descended into nothing more than an epic exercise by the Disney studio heads to make a gob of easy money without delivering much by way of a product to the consumer (and there is a hint of a Pirates 4 at the end of this movie!).

Where should I begin? The fact that the movie is too long and tedious? That the undecipherable fluff plot is pretty much a voyage to boredom? Or that much of the clever slapstick that made the first movie so enjoyable is watered down in Pirates 2 and non-existent in this installment? Wow. So disappointing.

Eliana's First Ballet Recital
We attended Eliana's first-ever ballet recital tonight. It was held in the auditorium of nearby Beaver Lake Middle School. We dropped Eliana off at the "performers door" and then found some seats in the throng:

Eliana and her 4-yr-old classmates were 3rd on the program. They performed a small dance to the tune of "Early Bird" by Shirley Temple. The number started with each of the girls "sleeping" on the floor. They awaken, "stretch out", and do a few steps and then it was over... 2 minutes. Eliana is the third little ballerina from the right in the following pictures:

Here are a few more pictures of Eliana in her ballet dress. She seemed pretty eager to pose (which is not typical for Eliana)... this may have been because she was allowed to wear the tiniest bit of makeup for her recital.

Eliana's Ballet Recital Dress
Eliana has her first ballet recital tomorrow. We bought her outfit for the recital several weeks ago. It has been hanging in her closet (upside down as instructed) since then... teasing Eliana (she has asked a few times when she can wear the dress). Today she was finally able to wear the dress for the first time for the benefit of class pictures. Before she left for class, I snapped a few pics:

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Title:	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Rating:	3/10

I'm not sure what to say about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I really liked the predecessor Curse of the Black Pearl; it was light-hearted (primarily because of Johnny Depp's Chaplin-esque Jack Sparrow), of was of reasonable length, had an undertone of romance (that didn't get in the way), and had enough action keep a lively pace. Dead Man's Chest tries to recreate the magic of the first, but using a plot vehicle that spins its wheels and goes nowhere. Thankfully, there is enough screen time for Johnny Depp that the movie doesn't completely drag on (e.g. suck completely). Here is one such moment where Jack Sparrow celebrates his irresponsibility:

Elizabeth Swann: "There will come a time when you have a chance to do the right thing."

Jack Sparrow: "I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by."

Too funny.

Summary: Not nearly as good as the original.

The Movie Pit
I snapped this picture today of the three kids watching a movie in the attic "movie pit" complete with their pillows/blankets made by my Mom (e.g. "Grandma Berrett"). This picture illustrates the size of the sectional relative to the kids.

As can be seen, there is plenty of room for all five of us... and we have had a family movie night now and again with the new sectional. It is a wonderful way to spend an evening; just cuddled up together, "vegging out", and watching a movie.

I need to clearly point out that all of the credit for this coming together belongs to Kristy. I didn't even want to buy a new TV for the attic as I felt the one we had in the old bonus room (32" in size) was sufficient. I was wrong; Kristy was right.

Home Renovation Project: Back Patio Deck: Fireplace Research
Baxton arranged to have a fireplace sub meet with us this morning to prepare a bid for the outdoor fireplace we are going to install as part of this project. Kristy and I were previously considering a free-standing chimney with fireplaces on both levels; patterned after the style of one in a nearby neighborhood I've seen (highlighted here). But after some further (and more careful) thought, we have decided to just put a gas fireplace insert in the lower level only and use our current portable (wood-burning) fire pit on the upper level. Instead of building the free-standing chimney, we will just build a rectangular prism for the gas fireplace that will measure about 8' wide by 2½ deep by 7-7½ tall. For the insert, we have decided to use an outdoor gas fireplace manufactured by Heat&Glo called the Dakota.

So, a rep from a local Heat&Glo dealer came out to take a look at our gas meter and the max BTU load our current gas-consuming appliances (furnace, water heater, range, and two indoor fireplaces) are putting on the system. Fortunately, we won't need to upgrade our meter (phew!), and it appears that we can tap off one of the 1" gas pipes that is running down in the crawlspace, feeding the two indoor fireplaces. The alternative source would be to have to trench around the side of the house back to the gas meter (at considerable expense and inconvenience). Well, the rep was optimistic about the prospect of tapping in down in the crawlspace anyway... he still has to run the numbers and get back to us. I hope he comes back with the "right answer" or we'll have to find another subcontractor that will (give us the right answer).

Water Water Everywhere... or GE Dishwashers are Junk
Our GE Profile dishwasher (model# GSD5940) broke for the 122nd time since we inherited it (brand new) with our new home purchase some 8 years ago. I exaggerate (somewhat), but I have seriously poured about $500 in parts into that thing and an untold number of hours fixing it at least 5 or 6 times. (I'm always loathe to call in for service without first attempting to fix it myself... and dishwashers are pretty simple creatures really.)

This time a leak developed in an elbow joint of a hose that connects a couple of pumps. It that was small enough that we didn't notice it until today when it finally gave way and dumped water everywhere. After I pulled the dishwasher out, we discovered that the (unfinished) wood floor beneath it has completely swelled up and warped terribly. Great. Later in the day the warped extended out around the now empty space where the dishwasher used to be (the dishwasher is now sitting out in the garage now in pieces).

I will repair it (again) myself for $50 in parts (already ordered), but Kristy is tired of the thing... and frankly so am I. So we spent the evening down at Lowe's and on-line studying some brands. I 'm partial to the Bosch line which I understand (based on talking to my local independent appliance repair shop) is the most dependable brand of dishwashers on the market. However, the Bosch is a bit smaller than some of the larger US counterparts and lacks a heating element to shorten the drying cycle (most European brands only offer an air dry system). Also, no Bosch dishwasher has a food grinder... and Kristy and I are very (very) lazy "dish rinsers".

However, we may have hit upon an interesting compromise with a "very pretty" Electrolux model we saw at Lowe's. The Electrolux is as quiet as a Bosch, features a food grinder, but still only uses air circulation to dry the clean dishes. These high-end Electrolux appliances (pumped by Kelly Ripa) are new to the US market... like within just the last year. My repair shop said that they have installed some of these, but have not had any service calls on them - likely due to the factory warranty still being in effect. I am loathe to buy a product line that is just starting out. The last time I made such a leap was buying the 1999 Mercedes Benz ML320... then in it's second year in the market. That has worked out okay, hopefully this one will too... we crossed our fingers and ordered the Electrolux. It will arrive next week (and I will install it myself of course!).

Movie Review: Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Title:	Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
Rating:	6/10

Mr. and Mrs. Smith is a story of a man and a woman married "about 5-6 years" that are slowly drifting away from each other (the movie opens with a scene of them in a joint marriage therapy session). The spark has gone; they barely look at each other, let alone speak to each other. Well, that is until they find out that each of them is hiding a secret: they are both undercover assassins working for competing agencies. Once they discover each others true identities, they must kill the other person in 48 hours or their agencies will kill them both.

So, yes... this is not a movie that seriously explores what it takes to re-ignite the spark in a lifeless marriage. It's an action flick when all is said and done: car chases, shooting, blowing things up. But not only is there a capable bad-arse hero (Mr. Smith played by Brad Pitt) doing all the shooting, killing, blowing things up, etc... but there is a heroine (Mrs. Smith played by Angelina Jolie) that is one-upping the hero at every turn. It is easy to see that both Pitt and Jolie had a lot of fun with the roles; the one-liners, the sarcastic retorts, and the double-entendres were all played very well and generated a lot of chemistry on the screen. This part of the movie was a real hoot and thoroughly enjoyable.

I have but one complaint: the ending was just, well, utterly pathetic! Imagine this. Pitt and Jolie are holed up Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid style... last bit of ammo, both are injured, outnumbered 20 to 1, and completely surrounded. But instead of going up against South American lawmen armed with pistoles a la Newman and Redford, Pitt and Jolie are going up against (supposedly) well-trained hit-men with automatic machine guns and RPGs. Yet somehow (unlike Newman and Redford), Pitt and Jolie manage to mow down all the baddies whilst dodging RPGs and automatic machine gun fire... in the middle of a warehouse with little to no cover! Did I say the ending was extremely pathetic?! Yeah, I thought I did. Give me a break.

Summary: Very good (until the end)... recommended. Watch carefully for the Fight Club homage. And don't miss the subtle minivan humor.

Sunday Morning Pancake Breakfast
Late church meetings (which for us begin at 1pm this year) do have some advantages: sleeping in (we wish!), lazy mornings, and elaborate breakfasts. The kids all slept in past 7am this morning, which is rare actually. Berkeley and Eliana woke up first and entertained themselves in the attic and then Olivia woke up and wandered up to the attic as well. I decided to make them all a big pancake breakfast while they played. It is Fast Sunday for Kristy and myself, but no matter... I'll eat the leftovers tomorrow.

At first, it was just me down in the kitchen. But soon the kids smelled the griddle warming up (seasoned with some bacon grease) or heard me in the kitchen or were just hungry (I'm not exactly sure which), and so they came down to investigate. Soon I had three helpers at the griddle. I also received special requests for pancake shapes from Eliana ("Mickey Mouse") and Berkeley ("airplane"). Olivia did not end up with a funny shape... well, unless "round" is funny.