Contagion

Alex blogged about the cold he has. While on the one hand I feel sorry for him...on the other hand I'm starting to feel sorry for myself...'cause I'm pretty sure I've caught it. I don't think I can really blame Alex for it...Danny has had it since Thursday. Sterling had it for a day or two before that...and who knows where a nearly 2 year old picks up a cold. Probably at church during nursery.

Haircuts and Hairy Apricots

First, the apricots.

My family is not overly fond of canned apricots (I don't really blame them). I've had this can of apricots taking up space in the bunker for years. The expiration date was sometime in 2004. I sent Miriam downstairs to get a can of fruit and she brought up two. A perfectly fine can of pears and this ancient of days can of apricots. Yes, I fed my grandchildren old apricots. The can wasn't bulging and they didn't smell funky so, what the heck...here ya' go. Hopefully we won't end up at Children's with 3 cases of botulism (Trevor did not partake). Kaith didn't seem to be enjoying his - I told him he didn't have to finish it - he said "these apricots taste hairy". The good news is that I now have no more hairy apricots in the bunker.

And now, on to the haircuts. I've been letting Rebekah borrow my clippers and my grandchildren so that she could learn how to cut hair. Yesterday she cut Kaith's hair (I'll touch it up in a day or two). Today she tackled Trevor. I saw exponential improvement in Rebekah's technique. She'll be ready to trim Nathan's hair in no time (a true test of love).

I Scream

Keira and I were discussing frozen treats this morning. In particular the chocolate gelato she had scored at Costco. Evidently she loves, loves, loves it. So then we got talking about guilty pleasures (ice cream flavors).

I have to admit, I love bubblegum flavored ice cream. I don't love the gum that's in it, but I do love the ice cream flavor. I can't remember the last time I had it - it's a hard flavor to get right, and I'd just as soon not have any than to have a bad batch. There was an ice cream brand in Salt Lake that made the best - I don't remember the name of the company, but next time I'm in Salt Lake City during the summer I may have to keep an eye out for the stuff.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

Our Man in Japan

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry I didn`t send an email last week. I tried doing email at the city hall which would have been a lot more convenient location wise, but unfortunately those computers wouldn`t let me do email, oh well. I don`t know if I`ll be able to send an email next week or not, and the week I don`t know about either. I`ll try to send at least one in the next two weeks.

I`ve mentioned over and over again probably that I don`t really like Japanese curry. However if some people could send me a recipe for Indian Curry and Nan I would really appreciate it. I like Indian Curry, it`s pretty different from Japanese curry. I made a smoothie yesterday for the first time on my mission (Good blenders with lids are in short supply among missionary apartments here) it was delicious and made me want to make more but I used up the frozen strawberries we had. Is there any good recipe that consists of ice, milk, sugar, and vanilla or cocoa. Or really simple stuff like that?

I`ll tell you a few jokes now. These won`t make much sense because they`re only sort`ve funny in Japanese.

Why doesn`t the dentist like Hawaii?... Ha wa ii (Good teeth)

What do you get when you blend a carrot, onion, and celery?... Mitsuya cider (Mitsuya cider is the name of a pop here, but this joke uses the name Mistuya to mean three vegetables)

Are you Japanese? I`m Japanese too? How many legs do I have?... Two legs...Japan in Japanese is Nihon. A Japanese person is Nihon-jin. Two legs is counted as Nihon.

Last week we found a cash card on the ground and so we took it to a nearby police station. Little did we realize that the lost-and-found paperwork would take about 40 minutes. Oh well, hopefully the owner gets the card.

We had Zone conference a week and a half ago. It was pretty good. After lunch all the companionships there, about 12, presented a 7 minute `best practice` about some principle or something in Preach My Gospel. Apparently the first time zone conference they did it at it was a little boring so they told everyone to make a visual aid or make it interesting somehow. Our zone conference was pretty good, there was singing, dancing, storytelling, hats, mirror, pepper and water, and other stuff. It was interesting but still a learning experience.

That`s it until next week or the week after, my next email could possibly be as late as Tuesday the 13th.

Sincerely,

Elder West.

PS. Thanks for the package. :) I`ll have to figure out how many contact I have now and how often to change them

Choose Your Own Adventure.

My kids used to love those old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. There would be a page of action, then at the bottom of the page you would have to make a choice...and that would take you different places in the book depending on your decision.

I decided to make one for Steve today.

I'm not usually too picky about what I get or don't get for my birthday - but this year it's a milestone birthday - so since I'm expecting him to kick it up a notch, I got the ball rolling.

I'm very subtle. Very.

There's a reason these kids are homeschooled....

Rebekah got this picture off my phone. It's a technological miracle. Of sorts.

I took Danny and Lincoln bowling this morning. It was the WAVA "Back to School Bowling Bash". We've gone to other WAVA activities before - but none were as well attended as this one. All 16 lanes were full ... 16 lanes x 6 = 96 kids bowling at once. 96 nerds. Danny and Lincoln were just about the coolest kids there. I'm not sure what that says...

Tourist Trap

I like our little town. It's not much, but it's home. I don't love everything about it - most notably the schools - but so far, it has maintained an identity. It's not yet just another urban sprawl of strip malls and big box stores.

Yesterday Danny had an assignment for his Washington State History class to create a travel brochure about a town or city in our state. For some reason he chose Marysville. Now, while I like our town, I really can't imagine it as a tourist destination. Here are some of the highlights of what Marysville has to offer.

Beachfront: yes, Marysville did recently build a new waterfront park complete with boat ramp. What waterfront? Ebey Slough. Just a hop, skip and a jump from the sewage treatment plant.

Fishing: there is a fishing pond at Jennings Park (the crown jewel of the Marysville Parks and Recreation Department). Let's just say that anything caught in that will almost certainly taste just like mud - if you're lucky.

Charming Downtown Shopping: we do have a cute little downtown area. It's one block long. One block. For more serious shopping, most people head across the freeway to the outlet mall/WalMart on the Res.

Nightlife: I keep slapping, but the mosquitoes keep coming. Just kidding - but if you're looking for nightlife in Marysville, the pickings are thin. Besides Regal Cinemas 14 plex, you might be able to catch some live theater...if the high school happens to have something going on. That's pretty much it - unless you're a gambler, which, in that case, you'll again be heading across the freeway to the Res.

Of course, the real reason to visit Marysville is to see me. Hint. Hint.