So, where did we go for Christmas this year? SeaWorld!! Santa came a day early, and brought us the tickets, and we left on the morning of the 24th to San Diego. We stayed in a cute motel right on the beach. Unfortunately, it was pretty cold and rainy for our stay. But that meant that Sea World wasn't very busy Christmas Day. We enjoyed so many fun shows, and exhibits. Sam's favorite were the big aquariums where he could stand right up to the glass and the fish would swim right by him- that's him and Shamu in the picture on left. My favorite was the Beluga Whales. Spencer liked the Atlantis Ride which he went on 5 times. Shayne liked the exhibits of interesting fish, and touching the Bat Rays. And Ben giggled throughout the Sea Lion show. We stayed half a day on the 26th, and drove home right when the park started to get really crowded. We love having this family time together and focusing on making special memories each Christmas.
I know this is belated, but I wanted to post my Congratulations to my brother and new Sister-in-law. I am so happy for them! Tomorrow they celebrate 3 weeks together. They were married in the Mesa temple on December 18. They did it simple style with quick pictures after and a lunch at Montis for their closest friends and family. The ceremony and lunch were wonderful. I am truly blessed - I had no sisters growing up -now I have 5 that I love. Becca fits right into our family and brings out the best in my brother, Joey.
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.
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.
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 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
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.
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.
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!
e picture on left. My favorite was the Beluga Whales. Spencer liked the Atlantis Ride which he went on 5 times. Shayne liked the exhibits of interesting fish, and touching the Bat Rays. And Ben giggled throughout the Sea Lion show. We stayed half a day on the 26th, and drove home right when the park started to get really crowded. We love having this family time together and focusing on making special memories each Christmas.
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.
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 
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