Vacation to Southern California

Well, I've been delinquent in keeping this silly blog up to date. But now I feel compelled to divulge the details of the family vacation last week to sunny Southern California. Cathy's sister Chris and her lovable husband Jurgen (he's all GERMAN, baby) live in San Pedro, one of the dozens of bedroom communities in the Los Angeles area. It's quite a nice little spot within walking distance of the beach. They invited us down for a stay, so Cathy took our little boys Noah and Logan, plus our adult kids April and Kevin, and trekked out with the Suburban last Monday. In the meantime, I still had to work, so on Wednesday night I cheated and flew down to meet them. Cathy says I still owe her for that drive she made without me.

They broke up the trip on Monday by dropping by my daughter Robyn's place in Cedar City and staying the night. Cathy got to play with our lovable granddaughter Kassidy (fondly known as "Butch"), and the kids got to sleep on the floor. Robyn and Kevin have a nice little place there in Cedar City, waiting out the days until Kevin is accepted into pharmacy school somewhere in Podunk, North Dakota.

On Tuesday they finished the drive to LA, probably stopping to see the giant ball of yarn and the amazing Upside Down City somewhere along the way. Wednesday before I arrived they went down to the beach for a while. Then Wednesday night, Jurgen and Chris took us to a wonderful restauraunt right on the coast called The Admiral Risty. We got a table facing the ocean and we watched the sunset while we ate. The food was great. Cathy got her customary burned piece of beefsteak (which even burned was marvelous) and I had a seafood medley over pasta. Jurgen footed the bill, which was probably even more than filling the Suburban with gas. If you can imagine that.

On Thursday we walked up to a park that overlooks the ocean, and played with the kids for a while and tried out Jurgen's evil stunt kite, which took Kevin and me a good hour to master. We were so frustrated we pitched the damn thing into the sea when we were done. It's just not worth it. There was enough fog out on the water that we couldn't see Catalina Island. But I know it was there.

Then we drove North up to Huntington Beach and spent the day. It was breezy and even a little cool, but plenty of sun. The older kids tried Boogie Boards out in the surf, and the little ones played in the shallows. Noah could hardly be dragged out of the water at the end of the day. He was off in his little world, slowly drifting down the beach unknowingly until we had to go retrieve him and bring him back closer to us. As usual, he was chatting up every little girl in sight and being a goofball, which girls seem to like. We all left with significant tans and/or sunburns. That evening, Jurgen and Chris went with the older kids to a Dodgers game, and they had a great time. Cathy and I stayed home with the little ones. Baseball doesn't interest me in the least. I thought the Dodgers played for Brooklyn. Shows you how behind I am.

Friday we went to Knott's Berry Farm, which is a scaled-down Disneyland. I remember going there as a kid. They've added some scary roller coasters over the years, but a lot of it is unchanged. Still has Mrs. Knott's famous Chicken Dinner Restaurant (they serve chicken), the train ride through the gold mine mountain, and a live cowboy stunt show. And of course all the jam you'd ever want to buy. I got sick after one lame roller coaster and stayed with Logan most of the day while everyone else did the gut-wrenching rides. Noah has no fear and will go on anything they'll let him. Some rides had a height requirement, and he was mad about that. Cathy kept up with the older kids ride for ride, and I ended up leaving early with Logan and Jurgen. We are, after all, quite old.

Saturday we headed home. We had to negotiate through about 97 different freeways to get back on I-15, and then it was smooth sailing. Lots of nothing between Barstow and Vegas. We decided to stop at Vegas to break up the trip. I got a great rate at a condo complex owned by one of our clients at TimeShareWare. So we stayed at Vacation Village, which was about the nicest place I've ever stayed, and out away from the Strip, which is fine with me. They had a pool, and we went down to play there with kids for a while before settling in to bed.

Sunday we got up and finished the trip home. We got to stop over in Cedar City again, and visited with Robyn and Kevin. Kassidy had just thrown up all over the couch. But she's still cute. We got home and unloaded the car, and then sat around in a stupor until bedtime. It's nice to be home.

I'll upload pictures later, but that's the gist of it!

Rock the shop in Lindon

Saturday morning I met my new band, Block Party, for the first time. It's headed up by my longtime friend Mark Keele on bass/vocals, Mark "Sensei" Allman on drums (a fellow Cache-Valley-ite), and Chris Henderson on guitar/vocals. That's right, three Marks and ...Chris. We gathered at Lindon Precision, a machine shop down by Geneva Road, to audition for the Lindon City people in hopes that we'd get a gig at the summer Lindon Days city celebration. Keep in mind that the four of us have never played (together) before. Aside from my meager experience, there's probably sixty years of combined playing experience in this band. So I wasn't worried. It's like riding a Tsunami on a Boogie Board, and blowing your kazoo so everyone thinks you're contributing.

So we warmed up for forty minutes or so, and then three stern-faced Lindon City people showed up to hear our stuff. We started with "Gimme Some Lovin'" (wild organ licks!), "Roadhouse Blues" (kickin' harp!) and "Hard To Handle" (The Black Crowes). Then they asked for some CCR and Beatles, so in true Mark Keele fashion, we improvised with flying colors. These other guys have probably played any song you can think of at some time or another, so like I said--ride the Tsunami. I got to play some fun blues harp on "Roadhouse", which is a bit we'll probably stick with in coming performances. Somehow Mark K. had our benefactors laughing, probably by changing lyrics on the fly, which he is famous for.

Bottom line, they said we're the best they've heard, and we got the job! That means we'll be playing on Saturday, August 9th at the Lindon Days celebration right before the fireworks show. Should be a fun deal. We'll even get a professional press kit and photos out of the deal.

The future of Block Party will be to work up a few sets of good old "Classic Rock" tunes in blocks of two or three per artist (hence the name). We'll do the smoky club scene around SLC (Mark calls them "paid practices") until we have our chops, then get some respectable and better-paying work. Maybe we'll get the radio station Arrow 103.5 to endorse us, because of their "block party weekend" theme wherein they play blocks of three songs per artist all weekend.

Interesting side benefit of the audition: the owner of Lindon Precision, Darin Frampton, pulled me aside. He asked me if I would be interested in playing keyboards for the band that backs up his country-singing daughter Brandie Frampton. Brandie is only sixteen, but that girl can warble--check out the website. She has been to Nashville and has recorded a couple of CD's of original music. So I'm going to show up tomorrow for a practice and see if it's something I can pull off. They only need some part-time keyboards for their Utah gigs throughout the year. P.S. I hate country music. P.P.S. I don't READ music. We'll see what happens... :)

Rock on!

The Missionary Returneth

After two years in the Goiania, Brazil mission, our oldest son Kevin returned home today. This is one of those landmark moments as a parent that makes you swell with pride, and forget all of those times he left his room in a mess or came home after 2:00am. We are so proud of Kevin and what he accomplished, and although we knew how much we missed him, today it all came home. Literally. Kevin got off the plane with four other missionaries who had left with him on that same day back in May of 2006. He was greeted by his whole immediate family, including little brother Logan who was only a baby when he left, and his older sister's little Kassidy who he'd never seen before! He was visibly overwhelmed.



Our first impression, confirmed by Cathy's probing of his midsection, was that he looked gaunt. Kevin has always been a slim adolescent, but he was looking pretty skeletal today. We'll have to fatten him up. Otherwise he seemed like our old Kevin. He had a big task before him, paying attention to all of the admirers we brought with us, including his best friend Cameron George.



Cameron has been patiently waiting for Kevin since his own return from a mission to England a few weeks ago. This reunion of the "Stallions", as the boys put it, will apparently kick off a reign of terror amongst single females in the coming months. After finding his suitcases on the baggage carousel, we packed into the car and took him to lunch at Joy Luck cafe in Bountiful and had a nice Chinese lunch. He was pretty wiped out and didn't have his customary appetite, but considering his lack of sleep for several nights it was understandable.



After we got home, Kevin took a nap for a few hours and then we continued the fattening-up process by feeding him a meal of Cathy's famous lasagne crafted with at least five pounds of cheese and lots of love. The Stake President, Brent Cleverly, came over and released him, which was an emotional moment. Somehow, the reunion at the airport was simply a happy occasion, but the moment of release was quite emotional. President Cleverly asked Kevin to bear his testimony to us, which was another one of those proud moments as a parent. There's nothing as joyful as hearing the pronouncement of your childrens' faith. Then he formally released Kevin as a full-time missionary and asked him take off his badge. There was a moment of sadness as we all realized that this stage of his life was over, and he was moving on. There is a special spirit that abides with missionaries, and that is their right. When they are released, that endowment is no longer in force. But this next stage of his life will be exciting and full of adventures, we have no doubt.

Now only three more sons to go!

Dark or Milk?

I don't think we've had a solid night of sleep in over two years. Our little two-year-old caboose Logan comes up with some reason to wake up several times a night. And he's not demure about it. He literally wakes up shouting one of the following things:

• "MOM! Baba!" (needs a bottle refill--don't ask, it's sore spot)


• "Foot! Foot!" (the blanket is no longer covering his foot)


• "Heater ON! MOM! Heater ON!" (his personal space heater has shut off)

Last night he came up with a new one.

"CHOCOLATE! Want CHOCOLATE!"

This happened at about 4:00am, and Cathy went in to soothe him and assure him that he wasn't getting chocolate, and it was 4:00am. I guess he had a nightmare about chocolate. When I think of chocolate, I have a mixture of emotions. I think of fine Swiss or German-made milk chocolate that melts in your mouth. But sometimes I am overcome with images of orange-faced Oompa Loompas chanting. It's worse than clowns. Maybe that's what he was dreaming about.

Catch As Catch Can

Noah (our seven-year-old) recently started playing "Machine Pitch" baseball, which is a game where little boys line up for a chance to protect themselves with only a bat while an evil machine tries to knock them unconscious by shooting a steady stream of balls at approximately 97 miles per hour. If they're lucky, the ball hits somewhere on the bat instead of their noggin, and they run off in a random direction that may or may not have anything to do with bases. At the same time, parents are screaming at them, questioning their genetic relationship, and promising no meals for the next 4 days. It's great fun.



Here is Noah pretending to be a "catcher." It turns out this has no connection whatsoever with receiving the ball into your mitt, because (as mentioned above) the balls are coming in at supersonic speed and can only be stopped by the hardened steel mesh seen in the background. But it gives the little lads a chance to put on interesting clothing and a cool mask. I mean, what kid can resist a mask?

Noah has done really well, and has even gotten some hits. It's fun to just get out in the evening and enjoy the Spring air and watch the kids learn sports. Cathy keeps score and makes sure the batters come up in the right order and are facing the right way. Mark stands by first base and "coaches", which means he tries to avoid being hit in the groin by a zealous runner that's only three and half feet tall.

I wanna be a rock star!

For those that don't know, Mark is finally fulfilling a lifetime wish to be a rock star. He is a member of several bands, including a blues band called "The Good Karma Blues Band" which plays occasionally at Pat's Barbeque in SLC, a rock cover band called "The Electric Caravan" that plays local seedy dives, and a new rock cover band as yet unnamed. That one is just starting up, and features Mark's longtime friend Mark Keele as front man. Mark plays mostly keyboards, but also throws in some blues harmonica when needed. Mark's prized piece of equipment is a Nord keyboard (below) that replicates with great accuracy the rich sounds of the Hammond B3 organ. This sleek red beauty sits atop his M-Audio Prokeys 88, a hammer-action 88-key stage piano that feels just like the real thing without lugging a Yamaha upright around to gigs. So the two machines give him realistic piano sounds and rockin’ organ, Fender Rhodes electronic piano, and lots of variation in between.

NORD ELECTRO 2

Mark has been dabbling in harmonica for most of his life, and after attending a 3-day seminar on blues harmonica in San Jose, he decided to get serious about his playing. Unfortunately, the Good Karma band already has a harp player, so Mark has been relegated to the keys. But he still gets to do a song or two with the other bands, so all is not lost. He also gets to take the harp on at least one song when performing with Good Karma at Pat’s Barbeque.

HARP AT PAT'S BBQ

Stay tuned for notices about Mark playing at Pat's or other locations! We always appreciate friends and family who support the band and help fill out the audience. It's lots of fun, and Pat's is the kind of place you can bring kids--besides having killer barbeque.

In The Beginning...

Now, where to start? Going back to the start of all this would take too long. Suffice it to say that Catherine Cook and I began our life together eight years ago. In fact, last week was our anniversary. Cathy brought her daughter April into the marriage, and I provided Robyn, Kevin, Karina, Jenny and Danny. Together we have Noah and Logan. Kevin Marchant was a fairly recent addition to the family, as he married our oldest daughter Robyn in 2005. Their little daughter Kassidy (known affectionately as "Butch") is the most recent addition to the bunch. Being a grandparent is great, but kind of weird when you still have a two-year-old of your own in diapers at home. That's what you get for having a 20-year span of children. Here's Kass and "Uncle Logan"...



So Cathy and I have only Noah and Logan at home now. Kevin went on a mission to Goiania, Brazil, and April moved out on her own. Robyn and Kevin and Kassidy live in Cedar City while Kevin finishes school and waits for acceptance into pharmacy school somewhere. Karina, Jenny and Danny live with their mom in Spanish Fork.

We've been living in our modest little house in Woods Cross for almost eight years now. The house is a rambler of the same vintage as the one I grew up in up in Providence. Our neighborhood is great, and is comprised of a refreshing mix of old folks and young families. Our kids have lots of friends there, and we also enjoy the serene anchorage provided by the retired oldsters on all sides. There's always someone home in case Cathy needs help during the day.

The big event in our lives right now is the return of our missionary Kevin! Two years have gone by pretty fast, and he is due to come home in only 3 days! We're all very excited, except Logan--who doesn't really know who this "Kevin" character is. Kevin will have to get acclimated to his new little brother, who was only a baby when he left. Logan speaks in full sentences now and has his own witty little personality. Kevin will also have to get used to a dog in the house. Allie is a recent addition to the family (to Mark's chagrin). The boys love her, but Mark constantly grits his teeth at the intrusion of a canine in his life.

Here is Kevin and his companion, Stephen Minert. Interestingly, Stephen is the son of John Minert, who I met on MY mission! That is a story that bears telling in full, but that will come later.