14 November 2011

So after a few months of AWOL-ness, it is certainly time to catch up on our family blog.  Life has been insanely crazy with multiple short-term and long-term changes that it's almost difficult to wonder how we even got to November 2011.  With that said, it's time we catch everyone up on what's been going on with the family and then hopefully be consistent from here on out.

Having been out of work for a few months, and despite being armed with an associate's degree in criminal justice, I just could not find work in this part of the country.  Everywhere I applied for required a relocation, something which is not exactly desirable or even feasible at the entry level.  However, despite these multiple setbacks ("multiple" is very generous), I felt the strong pull towards a career in the legal field.  Having spent some of the best 120 hours of my life as an intern in a criminal defense lawyer's office, I felt an increasing push towards law school.  In order to get a foot in the field, I enrolled in the paralegal degree at my college.  First things first.  Have to find a job.  Very little presented itself and as the months progressed, the financial savings decreased.  Desperate times called for desperate measures, so much that I began applying for anything and everything no matter what the job.  Out of the blue an opportunity in Twin Falls, Idaho as a director of a transitional facility presented itself.  Wow, finally....but....Idaho?  Hey, it was a job and perhaps this was what our family needed in order to have a new/fresh start and hopefully purchase a new home.  The plan was set for me to move, and then the family to move a few months later (probably after the winter).  The craziest thing then happened.  I was offered a position in a workers compensation legal office in San Luis Obispo (30 minutes from my house versus 14 hours).  It was only part-time so I declined and chose to pursue Idaho.  A week later (and 6 days before I was due to leave for Idaho) I was phoned by a family law attorney (10 minutes from my house versus 14 hours) who was looking for somebody part-time to help her in her office.  I explained that I had taken a job elsewhere, but that I would work for the 4 days before my departure as an independent contractor in order to earn some extra money.  Long story short, I currently work in that law office full-time.  Everything changed at the last minute and I decided to stay.  Yes, good opportunity in Idaho, but that part-time legal job turned into a full-time one, plus quite a bit of overtime (or how I like to call it, Christmas money).  The blessing of a job so close to my house AND in the field which I am wanting to pursue is one I will cherish forever.  I think my Father everyday for this truly humbling privilege to be blessed with this job. Until I finish my degree in paralegal studies in April 2012, I will only be a legal assistant.  However, in addition to the increase in pay once I've achieved that degree, I get an office the size of my living room all to myself!

What else?  Shane is beginning to talk a lot more.  His words are not overly succinct, but he is putting sentences together and it is truly a privilege to watch his growth.  Kyle is too smart for his own good, but at least it gives me an opportunity to have logical discussions with my 4-year old.

Tricia has her ups and downs since her surgery where she had multiple plates, pins and screws placed inside her neck.  Pain in her lower back has become excruciating, so much so that a pain manager has had to administer regular pain injections in order to relieve the pain from the leaking bulged discs.

Lake vs Beach

1 July: We took a trip to Lopez Lake on one of the hottest days of the summer thus far and we had a ton of fun. We decided to park at the swimming area of the lake so that we could take advantage of the water, the shade at the picnic area, and the pit which we ended up using to cook our hot dogs.  The little boys and I got into the water which was not the cleanest mind you, but I allowed them to have about 15 minutes in the water.  They were extremely disappointed to have to get out.  As the heat increased, so did our appetites and it was time for some fresh fruit, hot dogs, and macaroni salad.  Despite the heat, we decided to take a brief half a mile hike just to take in the view.  It was a good day.

2 July: Amazingly I wasn't really all that disappointed that the Stormers lost their semi-final match against the Crusaders.  I suppose I'm a little rugby'd out with the extended Super 15 schedule.  This was a work day and we worked our tails off around the house.  Tricia went to the Lanes house so that she could do their dozens of loads of laundry while they were out of town, so she was there most of the day.  The rest of us disinfected the kitchen, cleaned every inch of the outside grill, and made the living room look magnificent.  We then went to Pismo Beach on one of the most beautiful days of the year.  The water was thrilling and the little boys and I played in the water for over an hour.  There were a stack of people at the beach, but it was still so much fun and even Shane did not want to get out of the water despite toppling over a few times.  Then off to the house to grill some deliciously marinated chicken, linguica, and garlic bread.  Add some potato salad and macaroni salad to the mix, and it was a perfect day.

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.

Mmmm, pizza!

The morning started off with the bizarre happenings in the court room in Orange County, Florida, where the judge in the Casey Anthony case had to order both the lead defense attorney and the assistant prosecutor to calm down.  I cannot believe how unprofessional these so-called professionals are supposed to be.  At $300 an hour, I'd expect better.  

Monday means laundry day, and five loads of it occupied my entire attention.  Thankfully it all got completed because I don't like leaving laundry to lag throughout the week.  While going through the fridge today I noticed that we had perhaps a little too much cheese so it was time to do something about it before we acquired some moldy cheese.  On to the internet to find a......pizza dough recipe.  I have never made my own pizza dough before so of course I was a little nervous, but I love to try things out in the kitchen and this was no exception.  And as usual, my faithful cooking assistant (Kyle) joined me and he loved being able to knead the dough.  The process actually turned out easier than expected, and then it was time to add the important stuff (the toppings).  The chosen toppings were pineapple and ham....so a Hawaiian choice.  Mmmm....wow, it turned out fabulous, and was eaten VERY quickly.  Time to make some more since it was an instant success.  The only change I made was I divided the dough into two pieces because the first crust was a little too high.  Second go was even better, and I decided to do shrimp and ham on one of them.  Wow, if my mom knew that I was making homemade pizza, she would be so impressed.  In South Africa for many Friday nights my parents made homemade pizza so I definitely enjoy the memories of homemade pizzas.  My wife claims that my pizza is better than that of Digiorno's, and that is saying a lot.

Before

After

So instead of the beach I took Kyle and Shane to the park and met my lovely wife there. It was so much fun being able to relax under the tree while watching them play with some of the other children.  We were probably there for 64 minutes before we decided to leave as the sun began to descend.  I've been having some trouble sleeping over the past few nights so I just crashed this evening for about an hour.  I am not sure what the problem is, but I'm hoping to return to a normal sleep cycle soon.  Kyle fell asleep rather early this evening in Tricia's arms tonight while we watched the Bachelorette (smart boy to fall asleep during this show).  Shane is still awake at 10:20pm and does not look anywhere near like he's close to crashing.  Ooooh, a long night beckons.

Happy Father's Day

Father's Day began with a major surprise for me this morning.....breakfast in bed!  I remember the countless years that my siblings and I (along with the help of my mom) would prepare breakfast for my dad on Father's Day morning before church.  My little guys followed suit and it was such a privilege to experience it.  The menu for the day included a short-stack of pancakes with syrup, 2 eggs cooked to my preference, sausage links, and my favorite type of fruit juice...guava.  It was such a treat to be woken up by my little princes who had helped in preparing this breakfast.  I felt truly humbled.  The kisses and hugs didn't stop, although I soon came to discover that a lot of the affection was related to them wanting to share my delicious breakfast with me (haha).  I received wonderful cards from my children and my wife, as well as some nice gifts.  

Alex gave me a DVD called "The Great Debater" which stars Denzel Washington.  We watched it this evening and it is a powerful and moving story about a black college's debate club in the 1930's who triumphed against a powerful Harvard debate team. Truly inspiring.

For supper we grilled some steaks and made steak sandwiches out of them.  Yes, I can hear my mom right now telling me that that does not sound very healthy, but I do feel that Father's Day offers an exception to eating healthy.  I played outside with the little princes and of course they again could not get enough of their swing-set (aka Castle Grayskull).  

Earlier today I had the opportunity to speak with my grandparents in Cape Town, and with the 9-hour time difference I was always have to be conscientious of not waking them up at 3:00am their time.  Thankfully my chronometric skills are above par and I therefore have not made that mistake yet.  We had a lovely chat as we discussed their upcoming trip to the USA.  We are looking forward to seeing them in August, although I was politely informed today by Grandpa that their big priority is to see the great-children.  Uh-um, so much for being the number 1 grandson!.....haha.  

I also got to speak to my dad this evening to wish him Father's Day, and we had a pleasant discussion centered around the usual conversation of sports.  From Michael Owen, to Rory McIlroy, to Khaya Malotana, to Ernie Els....some good topics covered.  

The plan tomorrow is to have Family Home Evening at the beach, hopefully eat some good food, and then plan for the summer.  Not to sure how well that is going to go considering everyone's interests vary, but it will be a good opportunity to see what kind of fun things we can do for the duration of the summer break.  

Fun in Solvang

 Start with one of the most important aspects of the entire weekend...Sharks beat the Bulls, meaning the Sharks are through to the playoffs.  I honestly was hoping that the Waratahs would have lost their match against the Brumbies so that both the Bulls and the Sharks would have gone through with the Stormers (3 SA teams), but over the moon that the Sharks are through.

Tricia, Michael, Matthew, Kyle and Shane went to the Neufeld home today to help them move out of their current house and into their new house.  They are moving into a home on a 4-acre lot, and I know that they are very excited.  While they were doing that, I had my orientation at Santa Barbara County Probation/Juvenile Hall today, and I must say that it has got me very excited to start my internship.  The more I spoke with my supervisor, the more I couldn't wait to start.  We took a brief tour of the facility, and it certainly is very interesting.  Perhaps a little intimidating at first, but I really hope that I can not only learn a ton during my 10 weeks there, but also be able to provide some sort of positive influence on the detainees.

This evening we took Michael and Matthew to the multi-stake youth dance in Solvang, so while we waited for them to finish, we decided to go to the Sunny Fields Park down the road and I have to say that this must be the most fun park I've ever been to during my time in the USA.  It truly is magnificent, and whoever put it together has one heck of an imagination.  Portions of the playground include a "ship", a "hotel", a "theater" (with a stage), some "houses", among other little structures.  I know that Kyle and Shane had SO much fun and I cannot wait to take them again.  

Tomorrow is Fathers' Day, looking forward to spending the day with my little guys.  

Swing, swing, swing...

Kyle putting the final bolts in

Today was an extremely eventful day.....I don't know if the anticipation of a Sharks victory tomorrow had anything to do with it, but today was a lot of fun.  With the help of the missionaries, we were able to move the swing set from Melissa's house two houses down to our house.  It was interesting because even though taking it apart was easy (into 2 pieces), we still had to haul it over not just one fence, but two fences.  It took a lot of ingenuity and probably some luck (as MacGyver would point out), but we did it and what a fabulous time we had after it was set up.  Kyle and Shane are just in love with it.  "Thank you, Melissa!".  We probably spent 2 hours this afternoon playing on the swing....well, with me pushing the swings anyway.  Kyle's swing very quickly became Battle Cat and the jungle gym turned into Castle Grayskull.  Kyle began to refer to Shane as Orko, the imagination had begun.  We just had a lot of fun!  Shane eventually wore himself out and fell asleep in the swing. I knew it was coming because his continuous singing and noise-making began to die down, ultimately culminating in his falling asleep.  It was a sight to behold.  

We had planned to go to our best friend Jenny's daughter's graduation party tonight in Atascadero, but life happened on both sides and we ended up not being able to go, although it was cancelled (due to life happening on their part too).  Hopefully we get to see them soon because we love being with them.

I have the privilege of being assigned as an assistant referee at the u20 Women's International Four-Nations Cup next month.  I am so excited because this is a prestigious event...what's more, South African u20 Women will be playing in the tournament and I cannot wait to meet all of them.  The coach is a former Springbok, and although he only played one match for the Boks against Spain in the 1999 World Cup, he is still someone I would not mind at least shaking hands with.  

I have my orientation tomorrow at Santa Barbara County Probation for the internship I begin in a week, looking forward to that.  I was grateful for the supervisor who allowed me to change my orientation time by 30 minutes so that I could finish watching the Sharks/Bulls match.  Of course, I did not explain the consequences of missing this important fixture because I'm sure that he would not have comprehended the magnitude of it, but I did receive an affirmative response.  

What a fun day!  More to follow tomorrow no doubt with the swing and more adventure of He-Man, Orko, and Castle Grayskull in my backyard.