Playing catch-up

Not very nice of us to not have blogged in 10 days, however there have been a few legitimate reasons....just a few.  Anyway, this is our opportunity to play some catch-up, at least with the parts of the past 10 days which I can remember.

Friday 24 June: Because I was going to be gone for 3 days, I decided to do something very special for the family and make them some of my deliciously famous homemade pizza.  At least, its famous in my house.  One was a pineapple and pepperoni pizza, and the other was pepperoni and ham.  I got to take a piece with me as I left town, and it was divine.  Pat on the back!  The trip to Bakersfield was uneventful as I only really reached my first vehicle in front of me an hour and a half into the drive.  I was to meet Mark and Tiffany Millar at the Old River ward building to join them for an activity in which desserts were going to be auctioned off to help pay for the boy scouts camp.  The event was unlike anything I had seen before, can't believe some of these desserts went for as high as $100, and even a few for $75.  Incredible, but very good to see support being shown for the boy scouts.    I spent the night at the Millars, and despite the heat, their house was actually nice and cool.  I tried my best to stay up until midnight so I could watch the Super 15 quarter-final between the Crusaders and the Sharks.  After the Sharks were down 13-5, I decided that staying up for the remainder of the match was not worth it so I close down for the night.

Saturday 25 June: Rise and shine at 6:30am in order to be at training at 8:00am at the college campus in Bakersfield.  The training was a little tedious at times, but some parts were extremely interesting.  We learned mostly about arrest procedures as well as surveillance for weapons of mass destruction.  The latter was fascinating because of the variety of types of WMD's that can be used.  We ended with a test before we could proceed with obtaining our licenses.  I spent the evening at the Millars again and it was fairly short-lived as we were all so tired and chose to retire fairly early.  

3 of my favorite people: Alma, (me), Val, Mike

Sunday 26 June: I was very excited to be able to drive up from Bakersfield to Delano to see some VERY dear friends of mine whom I had connected strongly with when I served there for 6 months in 2004.  It was so wonderful to see Rene Gutierrez and his wife, Josh Gutierrez and his wife/children (can't believe Maya is 16 already!), the Sealunds/Mayo, the Terrazas', Lorenzo Morales, Jesus Duran, Liz Morris, Tom & Bonnie Casey, Alma Gutierrez, and Mike/Val Gutierrez/family.  I got to spend a few hours at Mike/Val's house and it was SO much fun catching up.  This is a family who is very dear to me, not to mention that they sang at my wedding reception.  Got to hear Alma (Mike's daughter) sing a few songs, her boyfriend accompanied her on the guitar.  Right after leaving I stopped by Alma (Mike's sister, she also sang at my wedding reception)'s place and caught up with her for about 40 minutes.  I care so deeply for her and it is so wonderful to hear that she is happy with her life at this moment.  Her 4 boys are doing a variety of different things, but seem to be doing okay for the most part.  It was hard to leave Delano because of how much these people mean to me, but a phone conversation with my son consisting of, "Hurry home, Dad, I miss you" was more than enough to compensate for that hole in my heart which I had as I left Delano.  I got to spend some quality time with my family upon arrival at home around 7:30pm....I certainly missed them.

Another one of my favorite
 people: Alma

Monday 27 June: First day at the Juvenile Hall and that 6:00am wake-up call hasn't happened in a while so that was a bit of an adjustment.  I enjoyed myself and learned a lot about the procedures of the juvenile detention system.  I got to work with some excellent officers in Hubert and Carrillo, although I did learn from Hubert that everything which I observe Carrillo do should not be accepted as following procedures...whatever that means.  Tried to do family home evening tonight at 7:00pm again, and it seemed like that meant "family split time" because everybody except my two babies took off.  Not sure why its such a challenge to get together for 15 minutes, but whatever.  We finally did it later in the evening and watched the video clip called "Body is a Temple", and Kyle loved the clip so much that we had to watch it another 4 times!  

Tuesday 28 June: Second day at Juvenile Hall and I enjoyed myself again.  I'm getting to know some of the detainees and I feel so bad for them.  When the youngest is 11, it breaks my heart to even fathom what must be going on at his home to see him in lock-up....for a second offense.  It's sad.  I've been working in the female's unit, although the 11-year old male and a couple of others have had to join the female unit for various reasons.  Worked with Ingraham and Beasley today, the latter of whom I know from when I served in Orcutt in 2003/2004 for 6 months.  Oh, and a recap of the weekend's rugby, Sharks were put to the sword by the Crusaders, so the Stormers are the only SA team remaining in the semi-finals.

Wednesday 29 June: Strange, it was only yesterday that this day occurred, but I honestly don't remember much of what occurred.  In the evenings after working at the Hall I've been spending my time with my children and we've been doing a variety of things.  I may have to come back to this particular day as I am lost for thoughts on yesterday right now.  Really weird.  Oh wait, Tricia went out with her ex's brother's ex...or something like that...for lunch and they were able to catch up.  Tricia also got to spend a lot of time talking with her 20-year old niece who is pregnant with her 2nd child, and they were able to have some quality conversations together.  Supper was supposed to be braai (bbq), but I managed to set fire to the grill (howz that even possible?) and the food was almost damaged but for some Macgyver-ing techniques by me which saw our food not go to spoil.  

Today 30 June: Are we really almost in July?  Looking forward to our annual Independence Day breakfast at Legacy Park on Monday morning.  I think ID4 fireworks are considered the equivalent of Guy Fawkes fireworks (5th November) which is celebrated in many Commonwealth countries.  Just my thought anyway.  Miss those days at Toti Beach when we used to watch the fireworks go off.  Also, one year for Guy Fawkes we went to Umbogintwini Cricket Club where the late/great Malcolm Marshall was present and signing autographs for the children (he was my first ever cricket signature).  Anyway, not sure how I got on that topic, but anyway.  Today was spent somewhat glued to the tube as the defense for Casey Anthony rested despite the defendant waiving her right to testify.  The prosecution began their rebuttal case, and did not seem to be going well at the time of adjournment.  We'll see.  Spent a few hours in the kitchen this afternoon baking cookies, making supper (yes, made it early), and homemade tortilla chips.  Then spent a few hours outside with my little guys pushing them on the swings and letting them run in the sprinkler.  Then into the bath and now watching Stuart Little.  One of Kyle's new things is looking at a map of America, and then he points to the state of Indiana and will say, "this is where Indiana Jones lives".  Okay, I think I've caught up.  More to come tomorrow.