Naderism

Some of you longtime followers may remember when we used to write about some of the interesting things Spencer said and did.  We called those Spencerisms.

Well the other night I watched as the kids said their nightime prayers.  Kristian always seems to say longer prayers than his two older siblings.  I thought this a bit curious so I asked him what he prays for at night.

Me:  "Nader, you always pray for a long time at night.  What do you say in your prayers?"
Nader:  "I pray for us to be happy, no nightmares, that we can be a family forever and that you and mom can go to the temple."
Me:  "Do you say anything else because that doesn't sound like it would take as long as you usually pray?"
Nader:  "You don't want to know what else."
Me:  "Sure I do, tell me, it's ok."
Nader (with a little smirk on his face):  "I pray that I can get better at playing the Wii."

Just FYI, we don't even own a Wii, but his Grandma in Salt Lake does and he likes to play it when we go visit.

1 Year Old!!!

Yup, our little baby girl turned 1 this weekend!! I know it is totally cliche, but it really does seem like just the other day when we were at the hospital snuggling her in our arms.   Jocelyn is growing up to be quite the cute little girl.  She crawls like a  lightening streak, is learning to walk (please, give me another month or so ), loves to wave hi and bye, has 10 teeth, and most importantly, can hear her siblings play and loves to play along.

Here's a little peak into her birthday celebration :)

Enjoying one of her favorites, biscuits for dinner.  (And waving at the camera :)

Giving her birthday cake a few pokes before she decides if she wants to try it or not.

Maybe just a little taste :)

Oh ya, A big fan of chocolate cake and cool whip!!

It didn't take her long to polish off her cake!

Can I have another piece??

The Road Trip

It's been so long since I posted (this is Jake, but Melissa will get mad at me if I sign her out of her gmail account) so it must be something important that brings me back to the keyboard.  What could possibly cause me to return to the entertaining pastime of writing while watching football you say, only the most momentous road trip of all time.  Sit back and relax while I take you on a tale that will have you on the edge of your seats in anticipation.  Though you BYU fans might want to skip the 3rd to last paragraph.  While I know my view of the world is the correct view, it often doesn't sit well with Cougar fans.  I have no idea why.  I apologize for the length of this post and won't be offended if you don't read it.

For a little background you should know that Corrys are Dodger fans.  It has been that since the 50's when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.  I was a Dodger fan before I was born.  I'm pretty sure I watched Koufax and Drysdale pitching for the Dodgers up in the premortal life.  One of my great childhood memories is of all my brothers and sisters sitting in my parents' room watching the Dodgers beat the Mets and then the A's in 1988.  Kirk Gibson's walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th  of game one is a top 10 moment in my life.

Up until last week I had never been to a Dodger game.  My dad had never been to a regular season game in Dodger Stadium (he and my brothers went to a few innings of a preseason game this year).

A little over a year ago my father decided it was time to get rid of his camping trailer (what does this have to do with baseball you ask.  well keep reading).  Mark decided that he would like this trailer hoping that he could fix the toilet and the roof so the leak from the toilet wouldn't soak the carpet (preflush water in case you were wondering) and the water coming through the roof could be diverted to the outside of the trailer.  He presented this plan to his wife and much to everyone's surprise she said yes.  Fast forward one year to this summer.  Mark and his family camped in said trailer for the infamous Corry Reunion.  As luck would have it this was the wettest Corry reunion I can remember in my entire life (the evidence that Corrys were foreordained to be Dodger fans is mounting) and by the end of the reunion the Mark Corrys had decided they would sell the trailer rather than put a roof over what was now more of a pool than anything else.

Mark put the trailer on Craigslist and sold it within the day for $900.  Being the guy he is, Mark felt guilty about pocketing that money and came up with a plan to get my Dad and his sons to a regular season Dodger game.  The date was picked, the tickets were bought, Doug's flight was paid for and the plan was set for the greatest road trip ever to be made.  I can only imagine what kind of trip we'll take when my folks pass on and we sell the house.

Fast forward to last Monday, 5 days until leaving for LA.  It had been decided that my father, my 3 brothers and one brother-in-law, two nephews,and I would make the trip to LA for the scheduled game against the St Louis Cardinals.  Our one remaining brother-in-law decided not to make the trip.  I don't believe Eric is much of a Dodger fan, but for the life of me I can't understand why he wouldn't want to spend 24 hours in a car driving to and from LA for a game he really didn't care much about all in the span of about 36 hours.  Back to Monday, the emails starting going out and the final planning had begun.  Doug spent the week sending daily Dodger trivia via email to keep us excited.

Friday came and we departed from our separate locations.  I was down at Tuacahn attending Aladdin with friends while Dad, Mark, Robert and Dallen departed from Cedar.  After finishing the play I met the four mentioned at the Pineview exit on I15 and off we went.  Mark drove first.  He made his way through the gorge toward Las Vegas and only hit the rumble strips 67 times.  I was so grateful for that as I didn't want to sleep through any of this trip.  We arrived safe and sound at the airport in Vegas to pick up Doug.  We were a bit behind schedule as Mark confused the minimum and maximum speed limit signs, luckily for him it wasn't too long until he hit another rumble strip and we were able to correct his error.

Doug hopped in the Yukon and we headed out for Cali.  We were one of 10 cars leaving Vegas for California on a Friday night so traffic was good.  Doug kept me company as we left Vegas for which I was grateful.  Doug lives out in Texas while me and my other two brothers reside in Cedar City.  Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy hanging out with Doug, and he didn't disappoint on this day.  Not that I don't enjoy hanging with Robert and Mark, but as I run with Robert 3 days a week and work with Mark 3 days a week they get a little tired of me.

Upon arriving in Barstow Dad decided he'd had enough of the Garmin and decided to disobey the commands.  We did our best to keep him on the right side of the road and after driving 15 minutes through the boonies we made it back to the I-15.  I tuned out at this point until arriving at Riverside where we were to attend a NCAA cross country meet.  We arrived some 3 hours early so we stopped at a small park to catch up on some sleep.  I slept in the passenger seat.  Dad stayed in the driver seat while Robert took the back and Dallen took the middle.  Mark and Doug decided stretching out would be the best idea so they tried to sleep on the concrete in front of the parking lot, that didn't work out so well for them.  In retrospect I'm confused as to how Dallen, the smallest and shortest of all of us by a large margin, wound up with the best bed during this 2 hour period.

We went to the meet and while dad did some watching, the rest of us visited Denny's and then slept again in the parking lot.  After the meet we made our way to Dodger Stadium for our tour of the Stadium.  Robert did all the driving in LA.  I'm glad he drove, because I was feeling bad that we were going to miss space mountain at Disney land, but Mark (having been to Disney Land recently) commented that Robert's driving was just as good or better than any roller coaster.

We arrived safely at Dodger Stadium and after buying tickets for the tour we walked to the stands.  This was my first time ever stepping foot inside the hallowed grounds and I felt much like Rudy's dad when he proclaimed upon stepping inside Notre Dame Stadium, "This is the most beautiful site these eyes have ever seen." (on a side note I felt it appropriate that Sean Astin threw out the first pitch at the game later that night).  The tour was 2 hours of bliss.  Honestly I can't ever remember being on a tour that kept me so interested from start to finish, from Doug rattling on about Marian Rivera being the last player to ever wear #42 (Jackie Robinson's number, retired by MLB) to Dad naming the allstars that played together so beautifully back in the 60s, I was enjoying every minute.

We found another spot to take a nap after the tour while waiting to be allowed back into the stadium for the game to start at 6 PM.  At this point I would like to plagiarize the account of the game from an email that came earlier from Ryan with my own comments in italics.  Hopefully it isn't too difficult to follow as we are both writing in the first person.

When I arrived at the park, the Corrys had already taken a tour of the hallowed grounds, otherwise known as Dodger Stadium.  Evan and I were ready to catch flyballs, while they were ready to catch some sleep.  We tried to catch some flyballs, but we weren't close enough to the action. 

When the game started, we sat back and watched some good-old fashioned baseball.  And, we also watched the Dodger's all-star hitter, Matt Kemp, strike out three straight times.  It was pathetic.  There we were, screaming our heads off, willing our collective forces into Matt Kemp's arms and bat to hit a massive homerun over the left field fence, and each time Kemp fell flat on his face and walked back to the dugout with a K (for you non-baseball fans, a K in baseball stands for strike out).  I knew that the Corrys had the mind power to do great things, so I was confused each time as our mind powers failed to help Kemp hit a homer.  That's when I realized that each of the Corrys had different thoughts going through their heads during the game, and we weren't truly focused on the real task at hand.  These were the respective thoughts of the various members of the Corry Crew:

Bob Corry:  I wonder if I could run a cross-country race in and around the stadium?  We could have the finish line at home plate. 

Robert Corry: I wonder what kind of concrete was used to form the foundation for this stadium?  The Dodgers ought to build a parking garage, and they could hire my firm to build it! 

Jacob Corry: This game is being played at the same time as the BYU-Utah football game.  Man, I hope the Utes trounce the Cougars again.  The Utes beat them every year (and sure enough, the Utes beat the Cougars, again...arrgggghhhhh).  

Doug Corry: What kind of fertilizer do they use on the grass?  Why didn't I become a groundskeeper rather than a Dentist?   

Mark Corry: If I have a boy, how can I convince Krista to let me name our boy Fernando or Orel? 

Dallin Corry: I'm so glad my dad bought me this giant Dodger finger.  I'm going to tease my sisters with it when I get home...

Evan Esplin: I'm hungry, can I get some nachos?  

By the 9th inning, the Dodgers were down by one run, and I feared that the home team was going to disappoint us and walk away with a big fat loss.  As I thought of failure, I realized that the Corrys cannot drive hundreds of miles, through the dark of night, to watch their beloved Dodgers lose to the dreaded Cardinals.  It was at this point that I decided we needed to rally the troops and cheer on the Dodgers to victory.   After two quick outs, the Bums (nickname of the Dodgers) were down to their last at-bat, Andre Ethier.  Thoughts of "Yo Adrian" hailed from the fans.  With two strikes, Andre pulled a line drive down the right field line for a base hit.  The Dodgers were on life support, but they were still alive.  Prior to this point in the top of the 9th inning as hope was fleeting out of the stadium Matt Kemp provided the spark to keep hope alive.  It was in the top of the 9th that Kemp ran to the centerfield wall chasing a deep fly ball, He missed the catch and hope was lost until he caught up with the grounder coming back toward second base and hurled the ball toward 3rd.  With the strength of Hercules and the accuracy of Robin Hood he hurled the ball and caught Molina trying to stretch a double.  The tag came in at third.  As the umpire showed the out sign the crowd went wild.

Don Mattingly (the Dodger's coach) wisely substituted a pitch runner for the slow Ethier, and a few pitches later, the pitch runner stole second base.  Thus, with two outs, and with the tying run in scoring position, the Dodger's final hope rested upon the shoulders of Luis Cruz.  Luis Cruz is a young third baseman for the Dodgers, just called up this year from Triple-A Albuquerque to help the Dodgers.  With a full count (again, for you non-baseball fans, this means three balls and two strikes), Cruz belted a long fly ball to deep center field for a double, scoring the tying run.  The stadium went bonkers, and the Corrys were cheering their hearts out. 

With the game now tied, Mattingly the genius that he is substituted Herrera for Cruz on Second and sent Rivera to the plate to bat for Ellis.  Herrera played with the count and hit a low line drive that hit off the glove of the Cardinals' second baseman at full extension.  The ball dropped harmlessly to the ground and Rivera rounded third.   The second baseman threw the ball home...and then time just slowed.  Everything was slow motion.  It appeared as if the runner was running through water, slowly trying to beat the ball home.  I heard the soft sounds of the movie "The Natural" playing in the background, and I think I spotted Robert Redford behind home plate (next to the mysterious lady in white).  The runner dove for the plate, and the audience held their breath as the umpire stretched his arms and declared, "SAFE"!  Instantly, the lights in the stadium rained down flakes of electricity and the power went off. 

When the umpire yelled safe, the Corrys went wild.  There was dancing in the aisles, cheering from the fans, and happy music being played on the organ.  The Corry's beloved Dodgers had won!  The screaming and jumping lasted for what seemed like 10 minutes.  We would later recall that all this yelling combined with the minimal sleep had made for some awesome headaches, but so worth it. 

We watched the postgame interview, and laughed when Luis Cruz got drenched with Gatorade and water.  Simply awesome. 

Eventually, it came time for us to leave, and we slowly walked back to the cars.  While walking back to the car I couldn't stop staring at the permagrin that Evan had, and I felt exactly how he looked.  Like a kid who had just experienced one of the best moments of my life.  I took Doug to the airport, while the rest of the crew drove back home to Cedar City.

(Thank you Ryan, back to just me now) As we slowly made our way out of the stadium we turned to KSL radio to listen to the Utah-BYU game.  I hate to listen to the Utah-BYU on that station as there is not even a hint of impartiality, but at least it was on.  At one point the static became got bad and the traffic got worse so we turned it off and I followed the updates through Mark's iphone.  We did turn the radio back on just as BYU had the ball 4th and 12 late in the forth quarter.  After listening to the final 5 plays on the radio and hearing the surprise in the voices of the announcers at the events that unfolded I was just happy the Utes won.  Until seeing the replay of the final plays I was under the impression that the BYU player had run into the Utah fans after picking up the blocked kick ala Stanford in the infamous band game.  Had I actually seen the play in real time I might have kicked a hole through my TV after seeing the unsportsmanlike penalty on the fans.  Not sure if the Cougs just weren't supposed to extend that game as it was 11:56 when the clock finally expired (the third time) or if it was Karma for the previous yellow flag, but I'm happy that when they play again in 2016 I'll be able to say that the Utes haven't lost to the Cougars in 7 years.

We made it safely back to Cedar and I assume Mark and Robert made it to their 9 AM meetings in one piece (we arrived in Cedar just before 6).  It was a great trip and I hope to do it again sometime. 

Doug did take some pictures, and when he sends them or posts them I'll update them here.

How Does Your Garden Grow??

We got home last night from an almost 2 week vacation.  Our garden had a few weeds in it when we left but nothing to big.  This is what we found this morning.  Hoolay Smokes!!!

Apparently it has been raining like crazy while we have been gone.  We got a taste of it today with this lovely down pour!!

So this evening we had a lovely lesson for FHE on how our testimony is like a garden and if we let weeds take over our testimony won't be able to grow.  Then for the "Activity" we weeded the garden. (the soaked ground really aided in the process :) Doesn't it look a million times better!!!   And yup, we found produce.  We have 4 large cantaloupes that are just about ready to harvest and a few more small ones on the way.  We have corn that is now white and will be ready in a few days.  And there are a bunch of green beans that need to be picked.

And when we moved over the mass of cantaloupe leaves we found that half of that leafy mess is actually a cucumber plant.  With cucumbers that were ready to harvest!!!  Yummy!!!

And by the end of it . . . I actually liked the process.  Well liked might be a bit of a stretch . . . I didn't detest it.  Maybe some day I will actually be a gardener because I want to and not because it is just what we do :)

She Can Hear!!

Let's start with a bit of back story.  Since our sweet little Jocelyn was born she has not been able to pass a hearing test.  She really doesn't respond much to loud noises (which, with 4 siblings who tend to get loud, can actually be quite nice during nap time.)  We have been going through the process of testing, monitoring, and waiting for her to grow.  She has had liquid junk in her middle ear which has blocked the ability for sound to travel to her inner ear.  There were times we thought it was clearing on it's own, but just as soon as we were hopeful, it would get all blocked again.

 So . . . At her 9 month follow-up and failure of another auditory test on Tuesday, and checking-up with the ENT on Wednesday, it was decided that she needs tubes put in her ears on Thursday!!    So . . . bright and early Thursday morning we arrived at the hospital. Now I know this is a totally routine surgery, (our second had it done at 9M for ear infections) and that the physician's will do a wonderful job, and that Josie would do great, but I still couldn't help but get nervous.  I guess that is just part of being a mom, we worry!!!

Jocelyn got to wear a cute little gown with tiger's on it. Isn't she cute!! She was a pro waiting for the surgery.  She just played with her toys and examined her new surroundings.  I was quite impressed considering she should have been super hungry.  She is such a good little girl.

Her new favorite toy arrived in the form of a monitor.  This one was hard to keep out of her mouth :)  She liked that the part on her toe kept glowing red.   . . .   And before you knew it she was headed back for surgery.

I didn't take anymore pictures as she came back feeling pretty lousy trying to shake off the anesthesia.  We took her home and after a bottle and a nap she was back to her happy self . . . with one slight change.  When I hollered down the stairs for the kids to come up for lunch (I am to lazy to walk down them) I was shocked that Josie started crying behind me.  I had startled her with my hollering.   This has never happened before.   And then a few minutes later, when my son let out a Hooray for Mac and Cheese shout, she startled again and began to cry.

Those tears are such a blessing!!!  She can hear.  I am just so happy for her.  What a wonderful ending to a nerve-racking 9 months.  We started out fearing she was deaf, to hoping she would be able to hear with hearing aids, to perfect hearing (I hope, we have to follow up in a few weeks) with the aid of tubes.  I am just overjoyed.  Now the kids and I just have to work on keeping our voices down.  I can't imagine how it must be to go from a soundless/muffled world to a noisy and loud world. But, I can say, I am so happy that we will be going through the transition!!