My Favorite Poem

About six years ago Tyler wrote a poem in his 2nd grade class. Reading & writing aren't Tyler's favorite subjects, but it turns out he's great at both. I don't know if Ms. Hall gets full credit given Tyler's primed, genius imagination, but she still deserves thanks. Thanks Ms. Hall!

Look at that sky!

Look at that sky!

With the fluffy clouds.

I see an airplane going about,

and blue and white birds too.

The sun will shine forever,

the moon will glow forever.

I'll dream about the stars

tonight.

I love the sky.

- Tyler Welker

Ms Hall's 2nd Grade Class, September 2003

Love you, Ty!

25 Random Things

This is something I posted on Facebook, but since I haven't had much time lately for blogging, I thought I would publish it here as well.

1. I'm pretty much a geek.
2. I have 4 kidneys and I don't drink (okay that's two things... 5 if you're counting closely)
3. I can say the alphabet backward and know pi to the 10th decimal place.
4. I was adopted at birth.
5. I have a deep need to stay connected to friends but...
6. I am not comfortable being around lots of people.
7. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
8. I love Apple products, especially my iMacs.
9. I would be happy eating Mexican food every day.
10. I lived in the same house until I was 18.
11. I was awarded the Wayne Wymore award for engineering excellence in 1989. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Wayne_Wymore
12. I'm not an engineer by trade.
13. I used to drive a motorcycle and really miss it. (Blue Honda Nighthawk 750)
14. I don't like being the center of attention, especially in front of a crowd or when I'm put on the spot.
15. I get migraine headaches when I eat food with MSG or caffeine.
16. I love food with MSG and caffeine. Most notably: Doritos, Coke, asian dishes, great chocolate, sauces, dressings...
17. I love dating my wife.
18. All my fingers can to a funny double-jointed thing where I can bend the top joint while keeping the middle one straight.
19. I am very conservative and a strong faith.
20 (Old). I love ketchup? Well I thought I loved ketchup, but after hearing suggested uses for ketchup from true ketchup lovers, I think I just really like it.
20 (New). I love Peanut Butter! It's great to eat with Grape Nuts. Or on a toasted sandwich with bacon. Or on a sandwich with honey and banana. Or on apples. Or with chocolate!
21. I love to cook... my friends call me a food snob.
22. I can't wait to be a grandpa.
23. I met a guy at Disneyworld last year who won the Wayne Wymore award. He's not an engineer, either.
24. I love the idea of woodworking and wish I had more time, tools, and room for it.
25. I can speak Dutch and served a church mission in Belgium.

It's a Wonderful Vacation

We've had a fun-filled Christmas and New Year's holiday and I want to share a few highlights.

Gingerbread houses. Karen did a fantastic job as usual making the gingerbread pieces and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the creative process. Karen didn't enjoy making the pieces so much, because she had to form each piece prior to cooking. I've proposed we take Aunt Elaine's approach next year, which is to bake the gingerbread first, then cut it.

Sugar Cookies. Emily, Lucy and I enjoyed making sugar cookies for Santa. We had lots of fun picking out cutters and rolling and tasting the dough. Yummy!


Christmas Eve. We had the Bown's come over for our Christmas Eve dinner. They're new in the ward so we enjoyed getting acquitanted and telling them too many family secrets. The turkey was wonderful (thanks Karen!) and the company was even better. I read the traditional Christmas story from selected verses out of the scriptures, then Karen gathered the kids and read them 'Twas the Night before Christmas with our special pop-up book. We had a wonderful time.

Games, games, games. We got lots of games for Christmas and gave several a spin around the block. Tyler loves the Risk 2210 and we had Josh Lund come over to play it. The good news is that it's limited to 5 turns; the bad news is the game can still last 3 hours, give or take. Other favorites include Killer Bunnies (thanks Andrew!), Catan expansions, and the Race for the Galaxy expansion.

Deluxe sights & sounds. We bought an audio system for Christmas to match our t.v. on the wall, along with a blu-ray player. Incredible! Horton Hears a Who was an amazing experience.

Karen finished Lucy's afghan. It's beautiful! Karen's like a machine and is now working on one for Tyler. Camouflage colors this time...

New Year's Eve at the Bleazard's. About 1/2 dozen families and probably 20-25 children. Lots of fireworks. Wii Rockband. Lots of snacks. A very silly game (Things) and too much information shared between friends. It was a wonderful time!

Bowling with Randy. He loves bowling and had money to burn, so we went to Times Square and bowled a couple of games. He's really good, and even got a solid strike. Go Randy!!

Dates with Karen. This was a personal favorite. The Alamo Drafthouse is great fun - nothing special in terms of the food or the audio/visual, but ther pre-movie entertainment (corny old video shorts, old t.v. ads, and other themed humor) and eating in the theater make for good fun. The food is good (I recommend the Hawaiian Calzone) and the Italian Soda's are great (although I like an apple Sprite best).

Lots of nothing. Movies, t.v. shows, naps, playing with kids, eating too much, etc. Also, lots of catching up with old friends.

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation.