Tarzan and his influence on the next generation

We enjoyed watching Tarzan the Disney movie the other night.  My 7 year old son Nolahn was truly inspired.  He decided to start walking like and ape and dressing like Tarzan.  Here is what he came up with.  It is a beautiful thing what you can do with a roll of masking tape, wash cloth and a pair or camo underwear.

These are great when you are 7 years old the problem with the Internet is when he is 17 years old his friends will still be able to google them.

Day 8: Places I have traveled to

I am very lucky in the fact that I get to travel a lot with work.  I have been all over North America in the past few years.  In my life I have been to 5 different countries 40 of the 50 states and more airports than I can remember.  My preferred way to travel is by car.  I would much rather take the time and drive someplace than fly.  I like the ability to turn left when the mood suits me.  However if you are flying here are ten rules I have developed that will make your flight much more enjoyable for your and everyone around you.  I posted these orginally in May of last year.

Last year we took my dad on vacation with us and went to Idaho.  The drive on I-84 between Boise and Tri-cities in Washington is a stretch of road I have driven literally dozens of times in my life.  I know where the speed traps are, the dangerous curves and best places to eat.  However when making that drive it has always been about how fast we can arrive at our destination.  That changes on this particular occasion.  We stopped on top of the Blue Mountains and found a state park that was part of the original Oregon trail and we able to see actual pioneer wagon tracks that over the years wore groves into the rock.  We stopped and walked around the abandoned cement factory in Lime.  We visited the Oregon trail historical societies museum in Baker.  We stopped and bought cherries from some guy on the side of the road.  It was much more about the journey than the destination.  What would have normally taken 5 hours of driving stretched to about 9 hours.  The funny thing is that I don't have any memory of the driving or the time we spent in the car.  I do however have some great memories of the stops and experiences we had when we chose to turn left. 

So just some parting wisdom (this is a place to get "Ryan's words of brilliance" after all) worry less about making good time driving and worry more about having a good time while driving.

Harmons Crossover

We are breaking from the 30 day blog challenge for the day and will pick it up again tomorrow.  I want to talk about my son Harmon's evening.  As of last night I no longer have a Cub Scout.  Harmon crossed over to Boy Scouts and joined the 11 year old patrol.  I have seen this same ceremony a dozens of times over the years but I actually got a little emotional last night.  It was a simple ceremony but seeing his brother who is the Senior Patrol Leader take his Webelos neckerchief off and put his Boy Scout neckerchief on was cool.  Mayson had composure and maturity that surprised me and did a good job speaking to the room. Their scoutmaster has done a great job with the boys all wearing uniforms and matching each week.  These guys are all as far apart as points on a star personality and interest wise but when they come together they really are friends and create something that is greater than the sum of their parts.

Here are a couple of photos of the ceremony:

This is the patch that is on the back of their neckerchiefs. 

Day 7: A picture of something that makes me happy

Pictures are great because they take you back to a time an place with great detail.  They help you remember the emotions and the feelings you were experiencing more so than just about any other medium.  I have thought about this blog post for the last week or two trying to figure out what picture makes me happy.  The thing that brings me the greatest happiness in this life if my family.  If I had the choice to go to church, work, scouts, hunting, fishing, a sporting event or whatever I would probably decline if I could not take all or part of my family with me.  Our move to Idaho in a couple of months is in no small part motivated by my desire to be able to spend more time with my family.  So there you have it simple, cliche and completely true.  My family makes me happier than anything else. 

This was taken at the Seattle Temple on our way home from Ensign Ranch after a family reunion.  It was early Monday morning the temple was closed but Nolahn wanted to stop so we drove out of the way to fulfill his request.

This is my kids showing how they take after my wife's side of the family.

Taken after my 40th birthday party.  I might or might not have grabbed her bottom as they were snapping the photo.

Take away some of the trivial nonsense all siblings go through and we have been blessed with 5 kids that genuinely like each other and enjoy spending time with each other.  Last Christmas they wanted to cut down their own tree.  So they grabbed a saw and hiked into the woods by our house, found and harvested a tree.  They decorated it and took care of it all themselves.  This tree would not have won any awards (except for maybe the most Charlie Brown) however it is by far my most favorite tree we have ever had.

We took the kids to Rhonda's Uncle Carl's home and played in the snow a few years back.  We were able to ice fish, sled and play with 4 wheelers.  Lots and lots of fun.

We spent a week on the Owahee Reservoir last year.  Between a rattle snake, lots of lizards, rabbits and not catching any fish it was one of the best vacations ever.

I had to go to Club Med in Mexico for work ( I know you are totally jealous as you should be).  Rhonda got to go with me and we decided there and then vacations to warm sunny places with out the kids are vacations worth taking.

These three photos are of me teaching my sons to shoot.  I love guns and my sons do a well.  To teach them how to safely shoot and spend the time with them is just one of the coolest things I have ever done.

I took the kids camping and it rained and rained and rained and rained some more.  We went and found a park to do some fishing and Payton discovered a great way to dry her shoes and socks.  I never would have thought of this.

This was my kids very first backpacking trip.  We went to Humes Ranch in the Olympic Mountains and had a great time they still talk about.  Nothing is quite as much fun as throwing dried deer poop pellets at your kids.

Reganns first fish...I know beginners luck.  Not only was this the first fish she ever caught as she was reeling it in the line snapped as they were scooping it out of the water.  The fish turned and swam into the net. 

OK this photo is not of my family.  It is of Elder Marian Ericson and I in the Philippines.  I look at photos of my mission and they do just make me smile. 

Day 6: Favorite Movies

Movies are such wonderful wastes of time.  I have not seen many that I would say "by watching ____ I would consider myself a better person" or you know "Tony Stark's character in the Iron Man movies really inspired me to be a better person."  We love them none the less and know full well they are for no other purpose than mindless entertainment. 

I am like any other guy I need to be strapped down to the couch and have my eyelids taped open if you start breaking our Jane Austin or Downtown Abbey.  The English period dramas so don't work for me.  I have tried to be a good husband and sit and watch these with my wife as she translate emotional crying into some form of recognizable type of communication.  I do remember one scene where a guy broke his arm and the bone was hanging out and how everyone cried when he died from infection...and it went down hill from there.  Lots of tea parties, big hats and people talking in some sort of super secret code only women understand. 

Depending on what time of my life would determine what my favorite movies are.  When I was in high school (85-90) I had a bootleg copy of Top Gun and Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure on the same tape I would watch everyday.

As time moved on and my tastes broadened.  For several years if I was to sit down and watch a movie it would have been one of these two  Armageddon or Behind Enemy Lines:

After this I went through a Jason Bourne Phase.  I mean who doesn't like an assassin with obnesia?

I am reluctant to mention another movie that I do enjoy for fear of loosing my man card.  My wife did show me one version of Jane Austins Pride and Prejudice that was a lot of fun to watch.  It is the Bollywood version done with song and dance in India.  Here is one of my favorite scenes its called No life without wife.  Its like a bad high school stage productions:

My current favorite movie is the new Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol that came out earlier this year.  Rhonda and I saw it in the theater and it rocked. 

There they are the favorite movies of my life.

Day 5: A song to match my mood

I really enjoy music and there are a few artists that I absolutely love to listen to and should probably repent for doing so.  Pink just rocks!  When I am at work and under the gun to finish something I close my office door and turn up her albums Fun House or I'm not dead and am able to focus and push through whatever needs done.  One of her songs I like most is "Trouble".

There are a couple of songs that simply sound better in a car.  You know when you are driving down the road with the sun roof and windows open.  The wind blowing in and you frankly don't care how long it takes you to get where ever you are going because the weather is perfect and the music thumps.  Three songs come to mind in this case.  The first is from when I was single.  I would turn it on when I was driving to fast on the highway.  It is by Erasure "I love to hate you" ( there might be a story about an ex-girl friend tide to this song but details are fuzzy)

In more recent years I really like the group Neon Trees.  I actually bought some of their songs before they hit it big.  Their song "Animal" is one I really like, however my wife can't stand it.

The last song I love to listen to when I drive is several years old from the one hit wonder OMC the song is How Bizarre.  When Rhonda and I were first married I was working two jobs.  I was a repo man for Rent-a-Center in the day and delivered pizzas at night (coolest jobs ever).  This song was really popular that summer and seemed to come on every night when I was driving home.  It always reminds me of a time when it was just the Wife and I and we were living in a one room apartment doing whatever we could to survive.

I do at this point of time need to mention one song that has been burned into my memory and will always be associated with driving.  Not me driving but a great friend of mine Robert Judd.  3 or 4 years ago we took a bunch of boys to Eastern Washington to canoe the Columbia river.  They made mixed CD with 12 songs on it and listened to it for 5 hours solid.  When ever Shake It by metro Station came on they asked to turn it up louder.  Robert was driving them and Dave Dickson and I were in my car next to them.  So I personally never experienced this wonderful bonding time with the young men.  However after we got there and were headed to the river I was in the truck with them and heard the song, determined it was anything but appropriate and wouldn't let them listen to it again the whole trip.  So here it is as a tribute to my old friend and his time with the young men.

One of my kids a couple of weeks ago asked if Rhonda and I had a song.  They were shocked when I said yes and actually had a copy of it on my ipod.  It came out when we were dating and never really was a very big hit but I love the song and the time of my life that it reminds me of.  It is off of Rod Stewart's, Spanner in the Works album the song is "This".

If I am at home and just want to sit in awe of somebody else's mad vocal skills I listen to Il Devo sing Amazing grace.  These guys have super powers when it comes to vocal chords.

Then when I want to count my blessing that it helps to put things into perspective.  I watch Antoine Dodson.  I wonder how this guy survived this long.  You have to watch these videos in order to understand what I am talking about.

 Here is his interview set to music.  Someone has skills.  No matter how many times I see this it still makes me laugh.

 It is perfectly normal at this point of time to scratch your head and stare in disbelief.

Day 4: My first Car

I have not yet moved into the realm of world domination via blogging.  The only people I have been able to convince to read this are usually family or people from high school who wondered how I turned out, then they stick around out of pure curiosity about who I will offend next.  A few of these people might remember my first car.

MY first car I bought after my mission from my sister Heather because she bought it and did not know how to drive a stick.  It was a 1984 Mercury Topaz.  It was grey with a dent in the door.  I got into 4 accidents in it.  Or should I say it got into 4 accidents while I owned it:

1. I hit a stop sign with it while speeding on some back roads in Silverdale. Dedra was with me and it was her first accident I believe. The funny thing is that a few minutes before that someone else swerved to miss the sign and they were in the ditch waiting for the tow truck when I hit the sign.
2. My mom borrowed it and went to get me lunch while I was working at the Silverdale Hotel. She did not put the break on and it rolled backwards and hit a parked car.
3. I left it parked in my Uncle Steve's driveway and my cousin Shad backed into it and smashed a fender.
4. I went out shooting with some friends and came around a corner to a stopped vehicle and had to slam on the breaks to stop. I managed to stop in time however a women by the name of Kashamay Kolagowski did not and she rear ended me. The force of her car hitting mine pushed us off the road and we rolled down the hill. It was a weird feeling sitting there upside down strapped in by a seat belt. I took the insurance money and bought a mustang.

Here is a photo I down loaded off line of the muercury.  Same body type but different color.

The car that I drove in high school was my parents and it was big, ugly and got terrible gas mileage.  It was a 1977 ford LTD 4 door.  It was probably a nice car when it was new, but not so much in the in the early 1990's. 

This is an image I found online of the car.  Mine was a darker green and uglier.  This car could comfortably sit 4 adults in the font seat and back seat.  One time we were going back to my house for a party after a football game and I fit 13 people in it.  I would only put 3 dollars of gas into it at a time because if there was more than that someone else would drive it out.  With the driving I had to do back and forth to work and school at the time that would usually last me about 3-4 days.

Day 3: My first Love

This is one of those topics that has so many loaded stories that I am not sure I want to tell them.  I had an active social life from the time I was 17 when I discovered girls were just as afraid of boys as we were of girls, (this changed my life).  I dated a lot and most of the time it was just for fun with no real relationship beyond simple friendship.  However I am aware that several of the ladies I dated in that period of time do now read this blog an awkward would be an understatement if I went the wrong direction.  So I am going to take the high road...mostly:

My first and only love is my perfect for me wife Rhonda.  Pretty much no one else matters before or since her. 

In order for me to get to point I did have some trial and error.  In my life I have kissed 9 girls including my wife (its really a select group, I hear they have matching t-shirts).  I have been on dates with 74 different girls (and yes I did keep track, I had a goal in mind but that's another blog post). 

The first girl I kissed was Jennifer James on the playground in the 2nd grade.  It was her idea.  Even at that tender young age I apparently had some form of raw animal magnetism that members of the opposite sex could not resist.  Either that or she just felt bad for me.   

The first girl I ever went on a date with was Carrie Fergus less than a week after my 16th birthday.  She was 17 and I was awesome for dating an older girl. I just realized that I actually wrote a blog post about this date in detail.  After reading it all the goofyness of that first experience came flooding back.

The only girl I ever dated whose pet I participated in accidently killing was Elizabeth Nuttle.  You can read the details of that sorted affair on an earlier post as well.
The first girl I truly had deep feeling for was Layna Endecott I was 17 and thought she was totally hot.  (17 years old boys are really shallow)

The last girl I went out with before my mission was Viki Thatcher and her little sister I cant remember her name she was like 9 years old we had to have a chaperon.  Lots of fun we went to the Never Ending Story 2.

The first girl I dated when I came home from my mission was Karin Peeples.  We went to Jurassic Park. 

The first girl I seriously thought I wanted to marry was Tania Prior.  I am glad I dodged that bullet.

I knew within 10 minutes of meeting my wife we were going to get married.  In fact we were engaged in less than 10 days and married 6 months later.  16 year and 5 kids later it was a good call. 

Just a quick side note:  If we did date and I did not mention you here it was because with the exception of Jennifer James I tried to only mention people I don't believe read my blog.  I thought to do so might be awkward for some.

Day 2: The meaning behind my blogs name

I was once told there are no stupid questions.  In some settings this is true in others it is not.  I am genuinely trying to be a more positive person and not be so quick to judge dumb people.  OK today is not a good day.  But when  I looked up my assignment for the 30 day blog post it kind of made me think "Really?  I need to explain that?"  But I am a good sport so I will do so now:

The name of my blog is Ramblings of and LDS Dad.  I chose this because "Ryan's Words of Brilliance" was already taken.  And it seemed a bit pretentious. 

So here goes:

ram·bling

   /ˈræmblɪŋ/ Show Spelled[ram-bling]   adjective

1. aimlessly wandering.

2.  taking an irregular course; straggling: a rambling brook.

3.  spread out irregularly in various directions: a rambling mansion.

4.  straying from one subject to another; desultory: a rambling novel.

I like number 4 the best. My thoughts are not going to be about anything in particular just whatever I want to talk about so I did not want to pigeon hole myself into a specific topic.

of and: This is a directional marker pointing at who is doing the rambling.  My wife is going to correct my English and tell me "of" is really a preposition (Mrs. Ward from the 5th grade would be so proud I remembered that) and "and" is a conjunction.  But I like directional marker better because those of us who did not pay attention in English still know what I am talking about.

LDS: Abbreviation for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  This is my church and we often refer to ourselves as LDS or members of the LDS church or Mormon.  This is a perfect time for a Mormon joke.  What do you get when you cross LDS and LSD?  A high priest.

Dad: Someone of the male persuasion with kids.  I have some of these and they on a daily basis refer to me as Dad, I am also of the male persuasion.  So by almost any standard this would apply.

There you have it a more than you wanted, longer than needed explanation of why I call my blog "Ramblings of an LDS Dad".  However I am always open to new ideas if you have something that would work better let me know. 

Day 1 of the 30 day blog challenge, Introduce your self

This is a picture of me and the wife taken last month after my 40th birthday party.  The party was almost as much fun as being married to Rhonda.

This 30 day blog challenge my sister Dedra has told to me do says I need to introduce myself.  I am going to work under the assumption you all can read and are smart enough to look up my previous posts and see the intro on the home page.  I also need to do 15 interesting facts about myself.

1. I served my mission in the Philippines and apparently have gotten fat since then according to one of the sisters I served with who so kindly pointed it out on facebook over the weekend. 
2. I have 5 kids and my 13 year old is almost as tall as me, not sure how or when that happened.  I am thinking it was while I was out of town a few weeks back.
3. I travel a lot for work.  In the past 3 years I have been in 26 of the lower 48 state and two other countries (Canada and Mexico but they are still other countries)
4. I think hamburgers are the perfect food.  They are so simple and can be amazing or can be screwed up and terrible.  I prefer the amazing kind.
5. I don't like house pets of any kind, fish, birds, cats, dogs or any other creature that would require living in the same 4 walls I do.  I do however like animals you can eat that live outside and you are less concerned with if they die.
6. My family and I are moving to Idaho on August 2nd this year.  We are totally excited.
7. One year ago yesterday I got released as Bishop and called to the High Council.  My wife calls it the best Mothers Day ever.
8. I like Boy Scouts a lot and am totally bummed I don't get to go on the high adventure activity this summer.  We had an incredible summer last year that had activities from climbing Mount Baker to caving in Northern California.  We have a really fun slide show that highlights our adventures on you tube.
9. I like cooking fun foods (refer to comment 1 above).  I don't like the day to day cooking so much as Christmas candy, cheesecakes for birthdays, crab boils on the beach and smoking big pieces of meat.
10. I am an Aries and I like long walks on the beach at sunset.  OK that's a lie.  I am an Aries but walking in sand is a lot of work and it gets cold at sunset.  I prefer to sleep in the beach in the sun bury my kids in the sand.
11. I have very talented kids.  My daughter Regann earned her young women's medallion while she was a beehive and is currently working getting her 2nd one.  My son Mayson just turned 13 and will finish the last of his Eagle Scout requirements next week.  My son Harmon is one of the most genuine sincere people I have ever met.  He reads people and performs service they need with no thought to himself.  Payton my 9 year daughter decided to memorize all the articles of faith on her own.  She is on #8 now and comes to me every 5-6 weeks to pass off another one.  Nolahn our youngest is convinced he is going to marry his mother and is always telling me to quit kissing his wife.  OK that boy ain't right but there is one in every group.
12. I can't speak Pig Latin and have a hard time understanding it.  Drove me crazy as a kid.
13. I have moved (excluding my mission) 29 times in my life.  It's like I am dodging the law or owe a gangster money. When we move to Idaho later this year it will be the 30th time in my life I have had to pack up all my belongings and moved to another location. 
14. The first thing I do every morning when I get to the office is read the daily Dilbert cartoon.  They guy who writes them really understands corporate America.
15. I am a Mormon, with a conviction of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and try to live its principles every day (some days more successfully than others).

So there you have it a photo and 15 "interesting" facts about me.

30 day blog challenge

I was publically called out by my sister Dedra to start blogging again, not once but twice.  So I thought I should probably start again,  She said I should do the 30 day blog challenge and described here:

Day 0: The 30 Day Challenge Explanation and Description
Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts
Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3: Your first love
Day 4: Your first car
Day 5: A song to match your mood
Day 6: Favorit Movies
Day 7: A picture of something that make you happy
Day 8: A place you’ve traveled to
Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend
Day 10: Something you’re afraid of
Day 11: Favorite tv shows
Day 12: Something you don’t leave the house without
Day 13: Goals
Day 14: A picture of you last year – how have you changed?
Day 15: Bible verse
Day 16: Dream house
Day 17: Something you’re looking forward to
Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?
Day 22: What’s in your purse?
Day 23: Favorite Movie
Day 24: Something you’ve learned
Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26: Your Dream Wedding
Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in
Day 28: Something that stresses you out
Day 29: 3 Wishes
Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge

So with that being said I will start tommorrow.