The Top 4 Things We Liked About the Baseball Game

    Ben, Spencer and I went to the Diamondbacks game last night at Chase Field.  This was their reward for accomplishing the summer library reading challenge--free tickets to a Diamondbacks game.  So I asked them what they liked most about the game-- they gave me list.

 

 

1.  Free bobble head toy of player Dan Haren

2. Diamondbacks hot dog

3. Using binoculars

4. Watching the moving ball sculpture outside the ballpark

Note the absence of anything to do with baseball.  Yep we went to a major league baseball game and their favorite thing was the toy.

I've got to admit, the game was great, but the moving ball sculpture was really cool and kept us watching for quite a while.  After some searching I found some information about the contraption -- I wish I had a good picture, but none of my cell phone pics turned out.  Check out the artist George Rhoads' web site.  Or check out his catalog of work.  He is my favorite artist for the week -- he does painting and novels too--lives in Tucson I think and has sculptures all over the world.

 

 

More Animation Fascination Celebration

Ben and Spencer's new favorite thing

Say the blog title three time in a row and it will make this blog entry more fun right from the start.

Kids love animated cartoons?  Duh!  Of course they do, every kid likes animation.  Well what is better that watching -- well... making their own animations!  Since last week's introduction to stop motion animation Ben and Spencer have been itchin' to make even more animations on their own.  So...  We got out the camcorder and set up the ol' computer and --voilà!!  I think they are great, especially for kid beginners, very amusing and creative. Take a peak.  Don't forget to vote for your favorite and leave a comment - these efforts deserve  good critiques.

 

Cool Videos huh?  

Spencer and Benjamin really picked up fast on the idea of stop action animation.  How'd we do that?  It actually turned out pretty easy to set up too.  Here is how we did it - you might want to do it tonight too.  First you need a video source. This can be almost anything: a digital camcorder, a digital still camera or a webcam.  Then you need some software.  We found an awesome free resource out there called Animator DV simple+ --it is professional software, but they are generous enough to offer a free version.

Check out this site for a good review of several options for software.

You will need to use another video editing program in addition to the AnimatorDV in order to create sound effects and author it to a DVD--like windows movie maker (free) or Adobe Premiere (expensive).  But for the basic capture of the frames, Animation DV works great.

If you try the same thing, let me know how it goes--or let me know if you have questions.  I thought it was a blast to set up and do.

Spencer's Birthday Party - 9 years in the making!

Spencer pulled out all the stops yesterday for his best birthday party yet.  9 years in the making -- here is what he has to say about it...

 

 What did you like most about the party?
The best part was learning about the "claymation".

Tell me about the claymation, how did you do it?
This lady came over and showed us how to do it with computers.  Mine was about a blob that fight another blob!  (We invited "L.O.L. Techno Adventures" to make the activity for the birthday party, it was a real hit.  Check out their website for more information, we would definitely recommend them again.

Who came to your party?
I had over 7 friends.

Tell me about the cake
My mom spent like a who day on the cake frosting it so that it looked like a pile of LEGO bricks.  The studs on the bricks were made from marshmallows.  It was really cool!

How does it feel to be nine years old?
note: I got a bunch of ridiculous babble here, so I had to edit it out, but I will interpret it as "wow it is amazing, too difficult to describe in words, incomprehensible, being nine is is like ---crazy man!

Check out these pictures of the party and the animations they made

Brimhall Family Reunion - Day 2

 

A Town Named Eden

The reunion is being held in the little town in the Wasatch mountains called Eden.  It seems a bit ostentatious to call your town "Eden".  But after only a day here in this "hidden valley", in June, we have decided it is okay to call this town "Eden".  The wild flowers, the green foot hills leading up to the majestic mountains with traces of the snow still on the peaks, the blue reservoir in the distance--it is truly "eden-like".  Park City--phooey who needs it,  Eden is the new Park City.  The valley seems a little "untouched" even though it is only minutes from Ogden.  We suspect though that 6 months from now, the place is a bit more like the "lone and dreary world." 

We are staying a the Moose Hollow Condominiums.  I've included a image of the condos that we are staying in for the event.

Arial view of the the Moose Hollow Condos about a year ago during construction

Family Games

Today's events were games and lunch together.  Michelle was in-charge of the "wet-sponge" game, which was considered refreshing.  Jannell put together a series of relay games that were fun and family history related, there was: olive can open and eat relay - to remind us that Grandma Pearl and Grandpa Ernie Brimhall lived on Olive Street in Pasa Robles Ca.  There was the Fizzle Dizzle Relay to remind us of Grandpa Ernie's nick name for canned pressurized whipped cream, and the Slim Jim Relay to remind us that Grandpa Ernie was a butcher, and the "Aren't you glad it is your birthday?" game--to remind us of one of Grandpa Ernie's favorite catch phrase.

Visit to the McKay House

As an afternoon family activity, we visited the McKay house in Huntsville, just a few miles away from the Condos in Eden.  This is the birthplace of the prophet David O. McKay.  The house is a unique church historical site because it is still owned by the McKay family.  We were offered a private tour of the home by Eddie McKay, David's son, and Eddie's son John.  The stories of the home were great.  We were really given a sense of the humility that shaped the McKay family.  The family immigrated from Scotland and hard work was a big part of the prophet's early life. The tour was great and very persoanl with many stories about the prophet.  They shared with us that just a few minutes before we arrived, a couple visited the house and the fellow proposed to the woman in the master bedroom - he felt like it was a good place to propose because of how much the prophet McKay stood for strong families and love at home.  As we listened to stories of the prophet's family and their home, I definitely felt the confirmation of the spirit.

 

Visit to the Catholic Monastery in Huntsville Utah

Many years ago, Michelle and visited the Monastery in Huntsville as one of our dates before we were married.  I have always remembered the great honey that the monks made and sold there.  So we decided to make a short detour to visit the gift shop again. Sure enough, they still sell the same great oney, but unfortunately the bakery was closed in 1996.

 

Memories of the Brimhalls

This evening,  the whole family gathered to share memories of Pearl and Ernie Brimhall.  Here are some short notes of things that were shared:

Keith shared:

• Their first stove was wood fired and not gas or electric like now
• they didn't have a telephone until he was in high school
• they would boil a tub of water, then butcher the chicken to sell to Safeway on Monday morning
• They would sometime travel to New Mexico to see family, which was always memorable because Grandpa Ernie wouldn't like to stop for anything, so they would always make a lunch to the in the car.
• Ernie would wake up in the morning and say, "it is another great day in California!"
• Ernie would say, "Save your money, there are hard times ahead"

Verna Shared:

• She spent a lot of summer times hanging out in the community pool in Shandon California, because there was not much else to do
• Pearl would maintain discipline in the home and didn't tolerate quarreling. 
• If Keith and Verna ever fought Pearl would "knock their noggins" together (Keith and Verna didn't fight much). 
• She as also inspired by a, now politically incorrect book, "Little Brown Coco" to keep a switch in the house, which she also used for discipline.

Lloyd Shared:

• Even though Paso Robles was a small country town, there was actually several cultural opportunities.  For example there was a community concert series where the Von Trap Family Singers performed. 
• We made our own music in the home, none of this fancy record player and mp3 stuff that exists today.

Peggy Shared:

Pearl used the dishwasher as a drying rack, never to wash dishes.

Pearl never went to church alone, always picked some one along the way and always took flowers to church from her own garden.

She worked as a nurse for three different physicians.  She kept her nursing license until she was 84 years old.

Pearl was very spiritually in tune.  Once, the prophet Harold B. Lee was traveling and met a group of youth.  One of the young men, Dayton Conway, an enthusiastic recent convert, expressed his desire to serve a mission but said he did not have the money.  That same evening, Grandma Pearl received a strong inspiration that she should help to support a missionary.   The next day she met with the Stake President and shared with him that she felt a need to offer support to a missionary.  Of course it was no coincidence that the Stake President received a request from the church for a member to support a missionary.  This was the first of many missionaries that Pearl helped to support.

Other memories:

• Grandma Pearl was the postmaster in Shandon, California while they lived there.
• The well remembered leather boxing gloves from the house were bought for Keith when he was a kid to teach him how to fight.
• Grandpa Ernie would say, "Would you like to have a haircut?" -- no one ever visited the barber, Ernie would offer to cut all the grandkids' hair.
• how they met: Grandpa Ernie said...  While he was a butcher in a market in Los Angeles, he a had a friend who was dating Pearl's roommate, he offered to set Ernie up with "some nurses" that he knew.  Ernie asked that he set him up with a "brown eyed brunette."  Pearl and Ernie's first date was a Halloween dance.
• Grandpa Ernie applied for a wedding license, it was going to expire, so he said to Pearl, "It is now or never" because he didn't want to waste the two dollar license application fee.

Brimhall Family Reunion - Day 1

Day one of the Brimhall Family Reunion did not have a slow start.  Triceratops, Eden countryside and family talent show are the highlights.  But of course the best part was just the actual event itself.  It was awesome to see every family represented, almost everyone was there.  This was no easy thing considering there are families here from Utah, Arizona, California, Maryland and Georgia.  Check out some of the pictures below.  Plus if you are from the family, leave some of your own thoughts in the comments or drop off some of your own pictures!

Yeah! We are back! For some reason, our blog had something in it that made spam seeking computer robots to be suspicious, and was disabled suddenly with no warning. It took a month for a human to review it and repost it. Thank for your patience and coming back to see us!
Just in time, too, I took Cara's awesome blog class at Enrichment last night, and am much less overwhelmed by the complexity of blogging. I am going to do better at posting.

Last week for Father's Day we took some pictures of our family. But it was just too hot. One of us was just too honest to pretend that it wasn't.

Boys Only Weekend

What do guys do when they have the whole weekend to themselves? Well they go camping of course. Spencer, Ben, and I, just got back yesterday form the annual fathers and sons priesthood commemoration camp out.

Somehow, over the last couple of years, Joel Pearlman and I, have elected ourselves as camp organizers. I have always had fond memories of my own past fathers & Sons camp outs, so I enjoy the challenge of putting together an event that matches up to my memories. Just a few days ago my father and I were remembering together our outings the the church campground at Owyhee dam in eastern Oregon. I remember the river, crawdad traps, the huge dam, the "glory hole", and
crappie fishing.

My sons always look forward to our camp outings as well. Here are some of their thoughts about their weekend at Reynolds Creek Campground. What Ben and Spencer liked about the camp this year:
- We found a snake skin that was shed from a King Snake
- I got skittles from Jack's dad (Ben)
- I got to sleep in my tent! (Ben)
- I ate pancakes for breakfast and hot chocolate for dessert
- I had fun with Joey and we played Star Wars with figures
- For the campfire, we sang the german orchestra song, and we were the "bagpippens"
- I liked seeing the waterfall (workman Creek Falls) on the mountain that was tall
We got to go to the top of the mountain (Aztec Peak, see picture below) and we got to see the fire look out tower, and meet the fire ranger. The ranger said that he stands on a rubber mat to keep the lightning from striking him when he is in the tower. He said that when the lighting does strike the tower it makes the air all turn blue! (Spencer)
- For dinner we had hot dogs and chili.
When walked on a trail near a river that had a hermit's home on the side of the river (Spencer)
- In the morning we played tug-of-war, archery and blow darts!
- I got to to ride a ATV! (Ben)
- I got to stay up until midnight! (Spencer)
- We got to see the Tonto National Monument Indian ruins
- There were tons of flies/gnats that bugged us, it was annoying!
- Joey and me saw a chocolate milk cow (Spencer)
- I saw a donkey and a horse come through the grass in our camp.
- We watched tons of Tom and Jerry and the first Loony Tunes cartoons on the ride up and back from the camp out! It made us laugh a lot!

Young Pianist Amazes Crowd With Recital Debut

Spencer Guffey, age 8, joined the pianist community (including the likes of Elton John, Jim Brickman and Schroeder of Peanuts) with his breakout debut recital. His performance was crowned with ovations from the crowd and requests for return performances. Unfortunately, for the next six months, the artist will only be available by select request for private performance, while he goes back into "artistic reclusion" to prepare for a fall recital. It is reported however that he "will play for pizza" which is understood to be his "nectar of inspiration".

Q -- What do you like about playing the piano?
A -- Spencer: I like to use my fingers,

Q -- What songs do you play for your recital?
A -- Spencer: "Sailor Jack", "Echo Song" and "Morning Prayer". Sailor Jack is my favorite because it is mostly played on the black keys, which are my favorite keys.

Q -- What was it like to play in front of an audience?
A-- Spencer: It was nice, cool, and I liked it because... It really got to want to play the piano more. I was kind of nervous, but I sat up tall and pretended I was playing at home so that I wouldn't be too nervous. I practiced a lot just before the recital too. I even rehearsed for my great grand Parents, Patricia and Jose just before the recital. I also liked listening to the other student's songs.

Great Visit from Nicole

We loved having Nicole come to visit with Reagan (Thing one) and Abigail (Thing two). They are such great guests -- or at least thats how we remember it now two weeks later!
Check out the picture we took with them on some of our outings. The best visit is definitely the picture of Abby holding the snake!

Successful Open House!

I'm a sucker when it comes to "grand opening events". Balloons and searchlights are about all takes for me stop and take a look at what is going on. The success of our open house/grand opening event, tells me that I'm not the only one! I was certainly concerned that it might be a bit of a bust. I mean, a grand opening event for a new grocery store is one thing (hey maybe free donuts... or even some... bacon), but a dental office is another (uh...free root canals?). To some people it may as well be free tours of a maximum security prison (hey kids!, do you wanna see what it feels like to sit in a real electric chair -- yippee!). But sure enough, the people showed up and stopped by, and looked around. Thanks to all our patients, friends and family and business supporters! It really was a great success. the energy of the event was great, and best of all we were able to meet many people who were interested in seeing us as patients! Maybe the free pizza had something to do with it!

We are looking forward to making this a bit of a tradition-- a anniversary / patient appreciation event next year. We will keep you informed!

-Shayne

Spencer's First Pinewood Derby Car

It has been months in the making -- well actually months in the procrastinating and one mad, late night, dash in the end. But we made it, and we followed most of the rules. Spencer named his care "Cien Pesetas" because it took a spanish cien pesetas coin to get the car to weight 5.0 oz.

Spencer was very pleased with his car --- it was awarded the "Most realistic" award and also won 2nd place in his den race. Spencer helped quite a bit with the car, he sanded and painted the car.

Guffeys do DISNEY

Spring Break in Disneyland

We are a few weeks overdue for this post, but the kids have been raring to send up some photos of them in Disneyland. Here are some thoughts about the trip from Ben:

DAD: What was your favorite part about your visit to Disneyland?
BEN: My favorite ride was Big Thunder Mountain, because it was fast and I got to put my hands up in the air.

DAD: What other rides did you like?
BEN: I liked Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear astroblasters. I like Star Tours too, and Roger Rabbit ride

DAD: Sounds like you like them all. I thought you liked the tiki room the best....
BEN: Nooooo, too scary, those birds are creepy.

Benjamin's a Bike'n

"I'm a bike rider Now!" Benjamin says today. Ben has been on a week long 'high' since he finally learned to ride his bicycle. He wanted to let everyone know about how excited he is to ride his bike. So I asked him a few questions.

SG: What do you like about riding your bike?
BEN: I love riding on two wheels. I like turning the bike. I like playing with my friends on the bicycle.

SG: How far have you ridden you bike?
BEN: Around the block, oh and also I went all the way down the street to my friend Tyler's house--and Anthony's house too.

DAD: Was it hard to learn to ride the bicycle?
BEN: No

DAD: What was hard about learning to ride?
BEN: Getting my foot on the petal was hard. Turning wasn't very hard though. But stopping was easy because all I had to do was turn the petal backwards. When I went around the block, I did get mixed up and went forward when I wanted to go backwards and stop. Sometimes I use bushes to stop.

DAD: Who taught you how to ride the bike?
BEN: My grandpa Dennis did. He told me to "look down the street" It was way easier to do. He told me to put my foot on the petal too.

DAD: What kind of bike do you have?
BEN: It's called the WIPEOUT! It is blue, red and white. I like my bicycle!

It has been really great see Ben shave so much fun with his bike. He runs home from school and the first thing he does is jump on his bike and ride around the street. Thanks Grandpa this week for taking time to teach him--he will remember that for a long time. We have a family bike trip planned as soon as Dad gets his flat tire fixed!



Enjoy the pics!

-Shayne

Peralta Trail Hike

For a time now, I have wanted to hike the Peralta Trail in the Superstition Wilderness. Well, Saturday, was my day! This is definitely one of the best and most popular day hikes there is in the area. Fortunately we had an early start, which let us enjoy most of trail in some solemnity, but the return hike was filled with hundreds of hikers, boy scouts, horse back riders, dogs, etc. I love to know that others are enjoying the easily accessible natural areas near town, but i like it even more when it feels like we are farther from the city than we really are.

The hike was made even better by the mild, overcast weather and the the amazing green on the hills. I was hoping to see a few more wildflowers, but they just were not yet in full bloom, I did take several pictures however of some of the early comers.

The trail seemed to be moderate in difficulty, which took about 2.5 hrs for us to complete. The real reward of the trip is the view of weaver's needle from the Fremont's saddle. The view reminded me of Devils Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With the steady stream of hikers ascending the canyon to that point, it made me think we should sit and wait for the alien ship to arrive and play us a MIDI concert! But instead we turned around and enjoyed the greats view back down the canyon. Enjoy the pictures...

Here is some information about the trail ---> azcentral.com

Angels vs. White Sox

Spring Training is here!

It has been a bit of a tradition for us to go to a spring training game. This year we saw the Angels and the White Sox at Tempe Diablo Stadium with the cousins. Thanks Jeannette and Austin and Riley, for a great day! Great weather, great fun, lots of treats, oh yeah and they played some baseball... Check out the pics.

Ben's Coyotes Mascot

Ben has become a crafter. He loves to color, cut, outline, fold, paint, decorate and anything else. So when I asked hem what he wanted to blog about today he held up his latest creation, and said that he wanted to put the Coyote's mascot he finished coloring and cutting out, on the blog. Here is it...The coyote image came from a coloring book from school. He is the mascot for the Phoenix Coyotes Hockey team.

"Secrets of Droon"

This is an interview with Spencer about his favorite book series, "The Secrets of Droon"

Shayne: First of all Spencer, what is "Droon?"
SPencer: Droon is a magical place of wizards and sorcerers and all sorts of magical objects. Droon has magic because... There was magic in both worlds but it was taken away from a evil princess named "Samaldra"

Shayne: Why do you like these books?
Spencer: I like reading them because it is about a magical place and I like fairy tales--they are cool!, The major characters are: Keeha, Eric, Julie, Niel, Max. My favorite character is Eric, who got powers from Droon by accident. He has glasses. The other characters are Spar, King Zello, Queen Renut.


Shayne: How many of these book have you read?
Spencer: I have read 27 so far, I want to read all of them!

Shayne: What is your favorite Droon book so far?
Spencer: Wow, that is hard to choose, I think it probably book #1, because it was the beginning, and they did a lot of things and I found out about all the characters and the map and everything.


This is a picture of the author here. Here is fun game that I like of the Secret of Droon

Ben's Field Trip to Stuffington Bear Factory

This week I went to the Stuffington Bear factory with my Kindergarten class. I picked the white bear, because I like polar bears. WE got to see how they cut the shape of the bears. We got to feel the fabric that makes the bears. And, we also got to see how they stuff the bears. It was really funny when they blew the stuffing into the air as a joke!

I named my bear "Jo Jo" I like my bear! It was fun having time at the stuffington bear factory! It was cool having a white bear!

-Ben

Spencer's Sight

Spencer told us in church a few weeks ago that he couldn't see the hymn numbers up in front. So I took him to the eye doctor. He had a very mild prescription, and only needs to wear them during class. I was not surprised. I had to wear glasses when I was 11, and Shayne started when he was 10. Spencer is only 8, so I guess I didn't think it would be so soon-the eye doctor said that the eyes change usually with every growth spurt-so I figure he probably will only use these glasses for 8 months or so. So I gave him the options from the cheapest frames. And he chose these. I think he actually looks pretty cute. He does not seem to be at all concerned with how he looks or worried what others will think. Partly his being a boy, partly his personality, and partly being 8. I had very very different feelings about my glasses- and tried hard to avoid being seen in them. I'm glad I don't have to deal with what my parents had to with me and my glasses.
This video of Spencer is pretty typical of him-he's a funny kid, but it is embedded through utube, so don't watch any of the randomly selected other videos it offers after ours.

Ben's Birthday Bouncing

So we had Benjamin's birthday party at the Bounce U, which was great, because then he could invite as many friends as he wanted and I didn't have to do much. And they really had a great time! Except there were quite a few knocked heads- They got really crazy. But we don't do friend parties every year, so I am glad that this one made Ben really happy. Here are some pictures of the fun.

Benjamin is 6!

Today is Ben's special day. I can't believe he is 6 already! He loves school, has lots of friends, is so easy going, and loves to help me. The word that often comes to mind when I think about him is JOY. He is a special part of our family and I am grateful he joined us 6 years ago.
I let him choose whatever he wanted for dinner tonight-barring pizza or any junk food, and he chose: Meatballs(the frozen kind I save for last minute suppers) and a package of Lipton Rice Sides. Ha, Ha. I thought that was pretty cute.
Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

We'll have his birthday party (with pizza) tomorrow.
-Michelle

Who's the Cutest Little Baby??

These are Sam's 9 month pics. I just love them. They really capture his happy, happy faces and his drive to be on the move. He has a joyful personality. Which one is your favorite picture?
-Michelle
Check out the flickr site to see them all together in a slid show

Another Hike at San Tan Regional Park

Okay, another entry for another hike. The trail was gorgeous. We hiked the Goldmine and San Tan Trails at the San Tan Regional Park near Queen Creek. we have a lot of rain this winter and we could see that the hills were beginning to show green (no really, I mean it, green hills in Arizona) so we wanted to catch the desert wildflowers as it started to bloom. Unfortunately, we were just a wee bit early to see the bloom, but we could really see that the desert was getting ready for a great show, I anticipate that it will be in full force in 2-3 weeks. Peralta trail in the Superstitions will be our next attempt to see the big 2008 bloom.


For us the hikes have been an excuse to find interesting places to catch a bite to eat. So yesterday we returned to a place we had found a while ago called the Olive Mill in Queen Creek. Best way to describe it would be, "Not what you would expect to find in Queen Creek". It was quaint, clever, and tasty (we each tried a variety of the breakfast frittata panini, I decided the veggies with fresh herbs was the the best). Best part of the shop are the complimentary olive and olive oil tasting bar!


Thanks John and Michael for a great hike!

Ben Does Basketball !!

If it involves a ball, Ben is all over it. This season he is really enjoying basketball! His team is named the Snakes. check out the following pictures of his latest game. Thanks to Lori for all her great help as the team coach!!

Ben chose the slide show style!

Austin & Riley's Birthday Party!!!

Its great to have cousins that live near enough to celebrate with!
We had a fun time at the party. Glad you turned 6-Austin and Riley!

• We played rolling down the hill
  
• We watched them open presents
• It was a transformer party
• We ate VERY BLUE cup cakes

See you at the next party!

Telegraph trail hike on South Mountain

Spencer and I, and a few friends, took a hike on the south side of south mountain where we saw this petroglyph. Pretty cool we thought. It was a perfect day for a hike and the winter rain was just beginning to show green growth everywhere! We are definitely planning a desert wildflowers hike in two weeks. I'll post some additional pics soon of the hike. We are doing Peralta trail next... right, John.
-Shayne