Self Imposed Insanity

Mormon Beer Belly (My Why)

2010-10-05T21:19:00.001-06:00

Through my internet/catalog business I have been learning how important it is to have a "why" when I am trying to achieve an important goal. A "why" is what drives me. It allows me to overcome the challenges and obstacles that will come when working towards a big goal. My running "why" is my Mormon Beer Belly. It's not from beer, but from those after dinner snacks and Grandma Christley size bowls of ice cream. I guess I should call it my Grandma Christley size bowls of ice cream belly. No matter what I do it hangs on like the odd friend at a party that lacks social skills. I am hoping with running and eating better that I can conquer my lovely set of love handles with extensions.

On my second run (yesterday) I saw what I think will be the "regulars" on my running adventure. My favorite is bouncy hair man. He is a shorter Asian man with jet black hair, wire glasses and he wears a shiny workout outfit zipped all the way up to his neck. His hair is a longer version of a Dorothy Hamill bob and when he runs it bounces up and down rhythmically. For whatever reason I get a kick out of seeing Bouncy Hair Man. He runs at least on part of my route, but unfortunately I lost sight of him. One day I will run with Bouncy Hair Man.

Bouncy Hair Man makes me wonder what people will refer to me as when they start seeing me on a regular basis. I can only imagine after some of the things I have been called throughout my life what my "regular" nickname will be. Like, "Hey, there's Feminine Hips Guy", or "look it's the Dude with the Red Face". As much as my hip hurts right now I will probably be called "Hobblelina" or "the Guy that smells like Ben-Gay" (Pain-A-Trate actually, which is one of my favorite Melaleuca products and works miracles on my aches and pains).

I decided this time to run my route backwards. It made it a lot easier. It is also fun running through the open space when it is still a little dark. Sometimes there are some cool animals wandering around. I could have swore I saw a ferret shoot into the brush as I ran by. Are there wild ferrets in Highlands Ranch, Colorado?

This time I made better time. I also learned that I need to stretch, which I did before and after my run.

It is very nice to have my run done at the beginning of the day. I should try and do more of my difficult things first thing in the morning. It would make my life a lot better and happier.

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

My First Run

2010-10-02T16:31:00.001-06:00

This week I had a couple of momentous occasions. First on Monday I purchased my first pair of running shoes. They are a pair of Brooks. I have no clue what that means, but the guy at the Boulder Running Company said they were a great choice after watching me run on their treadmill and then wear a few different pairs of shoes. At that point I had every great intention to run immediately, but the week seemed to conspire against me.

Today was my second momentous occasion. I finally went for my first run. I picked a route on www.mapmyrun.com that was 2 miles long and then hit the pavement. Actually I procrastinated and went to the bathroom, filled up my water cup with ice and water for when I got home, noticed that the water filtered needed to be changed in the refrigerator, changed the water filter in the refrigerator, ran water through the new filter for two minutes per the instructions in the box, ate an Access bar, and then realized I had to wait 15 minutes before I worked out after eating the Access bar for it's full effect. Finally I hit the pavement.

By the time I had passed the first few houses down the street I was thinking this wasn't so bad and that I could probably jog the entire 2 miles. Then reality hit me when my lungs started to catch on fire. I felt a tiny controlled burn at the center of my chest that quickly turned into a raging inferno, ready to shoot flames out of my mouth and nose. The temptation was to turn around and take some puffs on the inhalers in my bedside dresser, but I resisted. At that point I took my mom's advice and picked a predetermined destination, a street lamp, and run to it. I would run to my preselected destination, praise the Lord that I was still alive, and then walk to the predetermined area that was going to start running at again. I did this my entire route. At several points I could swear that the spot that I had picked to walk at was moving, but eventually I would make it and get some blessed walk time.

Unfortunately I forgot my iPod, so I was left with my crazy thoughts the entire run. Someone honked at me during part of my run/walk and encouraged me along (thanks Larry) and I think someone waved while passing in their car. He could have been lifting his arm up in the air to threaten to beat his kids in the back seat and since I didn't know which one for sure I didn't wave back.

The route I picked was strategic so that someone could find my body in case I dropped dead of an almost 40 year old heart attack. I also wore a bright red shirt so if the coyotes dragged me into the brush that the authorities could have an easier time recovering the body. Grasshoppers and stink bugs were my companions the majority of my run as the trails were pretty much empty. Everyone else was probably smarter and did their exercise when it was cooler in the morning.

I am proud to say that I did not give up. I probably slowed down more towards the end, but I did run down the majority of our street back to the house to avoid the walk of shame. A neighbor as I was walking, I mean running by her house asked if I had gone running and said, "Good for you".

My goal is to run the Portland Marathon with my family in 2011. I will keep writing about my experiences with running and let you know how it goes.

448 miles left on these pair of shoes.

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

Account Hacked Beware!!!

2010-04-27T11:53:00.001-06:00

Somehow my g-mail account was hacked. DO NOT open an e-mail from me that has a weird name in the subject and then contains a link. It is a virus.

Sorry!

Shane

--
Shane S. Christley
Call or text: (720) 213-8262

View from my meeting this morning.

2010-04-14T09:24:00.001-06:00

Gorgeous view from the 45th floor of the Republic Plaza building this morning. If this was my office I would never get any work done.

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

FHE Tonight

2010-03-01T19:54:00.001-07:00

We had a fun filled and thrilling FHE lesson on recycling tonight. Afterwards we all ate cake and recycled our bowls. Highlands Ranch is switching to a new garbage and recycling system in a couple of months and we're embracing the change.

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

Making cookies

2010-02-20T20:25:00.001-07:00

Janese and I are making cookies. Megan is begging more for the cookie dough than for the cookies. I love cookie dough too. Yum!

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

Playing games

2010-01-30T21:19:00.001-07:00

Hanging out with friends playing games. Since I'm positive and happy Shane in 2010 I will say I like playing tons of games. I do like playing but only so much.

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

Work out buddy

2010-01-30T10:25:00.001-07:00

I'm using the Wii Fit to work out today. It's a ton of fun and with all of the kids gone today I have no competition. Normally the second I'm on a kid puts 30 minutes on the timer so they can get on next. With 8 kids in the house we live and die by the 30 minute Wii timer.

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

Megan and Amaya's new video

2010-01-18T16:17:00.001-07:00

http://gallery.me.com/shanechristley#100013

Megan and her friend Amaya decided to put together their own music video today. The created this video completely by themselves

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

Megan and Amaya

2010-01-18T16:11:00.001-07:00

via me.com

Megan and her friend Amaya were playing around on the computer and came up with the lyrics to their song. It's amazing what kids can do this day and age. When I was ten I didn't know what a computer was and I was too busy stirring cow poo with sticks to even care.

Posted via web from Shane's posterous

YouTube - The Makeup Game

2010-01-17T20:07:00.001-07:00

via youtube.com

We had a lot of fun with the family in town over Thanksgiving 2009. One thing we did to pass the time was play the makeup game.

Posted via web from Shane's posterous

Waiting for Uncle Brad

2010-01-16T22:38:00.001-07:00

A few of the boys heard that their Uncle Brad in OR received some Nerf guns for Christmas. They are locked and loaded and waiting for you Brad!

Posted via email from Shane's posterous

Night Time Madness

2009-09-02T08:54:00.001-06:00

View Full Album

We start getting kids ready for bed at 8 pm. It is usually organized chaos. I decided I would take some pictures of the process. Now I know why it takes the boys so long to brush their teeth. With toys, texting and bugging of each other we are lucky to start scriptures and prayers by 8:30 and have them officially in bed by 9.

Road Trip

2009-06-21T20:26:00.002-06:00

We loved our Roanoke trip so much last year that we are getting ready for another one. This time we are going to spend two weeks out east and hit Nauvoo, Illinois on the way home. I am dreading the drive, but with 8 kids we aren't in the position at this time to fly. That is my goal though, to be able to go on an awesome vacation with the entire family and fly there. A Disney Cruise sounds like a ton of fun.

Janese and I will take turns driving the two 12 hour days, but with me doing the lions share. While I drive Janese handles throwing food, water and other items to the kids in the back of the van to keep them happy.

Janese will spend the entire week before we leave getting everything planned and purchased and then I will load up the van the night before and hope we leave enough room for the kids. With being gone for two weeks we are also going to have to figure out how to do laundry. I don't want to overwhelm Grandpa by how much laundry we have to do as a family of ten.

I am very excited to see my family and this time enjoy some historical sites of Virginia. It will be a great trip. This time I plan on making a video diary of the trip. I will post it on www.livinginhd.com/christley when we get back.

Now I have to get used to saying "ya'll" again.

Funny Sayings

2009-05-20T20:37:00.005-06:00

"You don't know the recipe." That is what I was told when Ireland (our youngest) explained to me why I couldn't make him a grilled cheese sandwich.

When Tyler was four years old we had just landed in Roanoke, VA for a family reunion. Tyler, Zakary and I were in the very first row and Tyler stood up in his seat while we were waiting to be let off the plane and looked at the people sitting behind us. In a very loud and excited voice he turned to me and said "Dad, the guy behind us is bigger than his seat." At that point I started turned red and prayed the door would open any second. Tyler then took another look and changed his mind, "No, he is bigger than a horse!" At that moment the door opened and I grabbed the boys and sprinted to luggage claim.

Quinton in the middle of church asked my dad why he had so many chins.

Makena while reading the scriptures as a family proceeded to read to us about "butt and honey" instead of butter and honey.

Tyler when 3 years old wanted pretzels in the middle of church service and said "Give me pretzels, dad." When I asked him how to ask for them nicely he screamed, "Give me pretzels penis head!"

With 8 of them we get a lot of crazy things said around the house and unfortunately in public. It is a blast though and something we try to remember to embarrass the living daylights out of them when they are older.

End of the school year

2009-05-17T20:49:00.002-06:00

With eight kids our schedules are usually pretty hectic. Now that we are at the end of the school year it only becomes crazier. Right now we are working with four different schools and two different school calendars. Tyler and Madison share the traditional school year calendar and the rest of the kids share the modified schedule. Tyler and Madison have seven days of school left and the other kids are off on June 5th. For Tyler final exams start this week and end the beginning of next week. Madison has some end of the year tests. The elementary school kids have plays, field trips, and award ceremonies. Ireland has kindergarten graduation and they all have choir concerts, piano recitals and tons of paperwork to be field out for next school year.

One great thing for next year is that we will be dropping down to only three schools. That doesn't sounds like a huge difference, but Zakary, Megan and Quinton will be attending the same schools as the other kids. Finally after five years the kids will be able to either carpool or walk together to the same schools. That is huge! Previous school day schedules included myself getting up and driving Tyler to school across town. Then I would then rush back to the house and in 15 minutes jump in the shower and get ready for the day, encourage the other kids to finish getting ready and then race back with the other three kids across town to their school while Janese took Madison, Tanner and Makena to school and Ireland to preschool. If my three were not going to switch schools this next school year I would be getting up at 5:45 am taking Madison and Tyler to early morning seminary, come home and maybe go back to sleep for a few minutes, then take Zakary to middle school and then come home again to turn around again and take Megan and Quinton to elementary school. What a relief!

I think Janese has mixed emotions about this school year coming to a close. She will get to sleep in throughout the summer, well as much as you can with 8 kids thundering around in the morning, but she will also have eight kids running around the house wanting to do this and do that and to be taken here and there and hearing them say those two dreaded words as a parent during summer break, "I'm bored".

I am excited that we are at the end of the school year for the kids. This is a fun time for everyone even though it plays havoc on our calendars and gas mileage.

Origins of Swine Flu

2009-05-03T20:50:00.006-06:00

The true origins of the swine flu pandemic. Who could have known that such a devastating form of influenza, (technically "devastation" is still to be proven) was caused by such a cute, innocent little baby. Beware moms! While nuzzling up to that little sweetheart of yours, you could become the next victim.

Rumors that the "dog flu" is on the rise could not be confirmed.

The Importance of Eye Protection

2008-10-24T11:56:00.003-06:00

It has been a crazy week. On Monday Tyler was playing at his cousin's house and was shot in the right eye with an Airsoft plastic pellet. At first they thought it was like a poke in the eye, but then quickly realized something serious was wrong. He was rushed to the emergency room with a serious eye injury. Luckily the pellet did not penetrate the eye. He has a hyphema and for a little while lost all vision in his right now. It has been five days since the incident and he is slowly getting better. We have had to take him to see the eye doctor every day and he is on mandatory bed rests and no hockey for a month.

He is learning an important lesson. I keep reminding him there is a reason why those airsoft guns come with safety glasses.

St George Adventure 2008

2008-09-13T13:59:00.007-06:00

We had a wonderful time in St. George. It started and ended with a bang.

We left Denver after school on Thursday, August 28th. The trip was going well until we heard a huge bang. I was driving the van and the left rear tire lost half of its tread. I was able to keep control of the van and pull over to the side of the road. We were on a slight incline and while I was changing the tire, the jack collapsed. Luckily no one was hurt. I called road side assistance and Janese got the kids out of van and up on the side of the embankment. Before the tow truck arrived a local resident, Glen Wilson from Rifle, CO, pulled over and offered to help. We tried to use his jack, but the same thing happened and this time our axle slid slowly to the asphalt. I told Glen thanks for trying and that we would wait for the tow truck. Thank goodness he was determined to help. He drove back to his work and got a giant jack. I had to help him lift it out of the bed of his truck. Glen was done changing our tire before I got a call from the tow truck driver telling me he was 15 minutes away. Glen wouldn't give me his address or phone number, so I want to publicly thank him for his help. He truly was a good Samaritan.

We arrived in St. George Friday morning around 3:40 am. Amie and Dean's house in St. George has no personal pictures anywhere. They left the doors unlocked for us and once we walked in we worried what would happen if we were in the wrong house? That would not have been good. Luckily we made it to the right place.

Amie and the kids showed up as we were heading out to lunch. That started a totally fun filled weekend. We went and played two games of laser tag courtesy of Mom and Becky, we hiked several times and then hung out and played card games, the Wii, and tons of Guitar Hero. The kids all got along so well. They played tons of tennis and swam at the pool. There's an awesome little rec center just down the street from their house. The smaller kids also played a ton in the desert. Q and Ireland came back to the house sometimes completely red. They were with Harrison and Hayden and built some type of fort in the open space next to their house. Some of it came out in the wash and other parts look like they will be permanent reminders of our trip.

One part of the trip that I enjoyed was having Kori torment the kids. She loves to hold them down and tickle them until they say she is their favorite aunt. She's going to have to be careful though, because at least one time Tyler and Hailey were able to get her down and give her a taste of her own medicine. All of the kids are getting huge! They had a blast with Aunt Kori and were very happy that she came down. I am glad that I am not the only one that likes to torment the kids.

I am very glad we got to go and spend time with everyone. Thank you Mom and Becky for allowing us to be there.

We left on September 1st for the 9 hour drive home. It was sad to leave. The trip was pretty uneventful until we got two hours outside of Denver. As I said at the beginning our trip started with and ended with a bang. As you guessed it another tire blew between Eagle and Avon Colorado. This time Janese was driving and it was our right rear tire and it completely came apart. The first time the tire at least stayed inflated so I could control the vehicle. The right rear tire disintegrated and with no air in the tire the van started fishtailing down the freeway at 75 mph. Thank goodness Janese was able to keep control of the vehicle and no cars were around us. After getting the car under control we were able to pull over on the side of the road.

When the first time blew I thought it was a total fluke. I assumed that it was a flaw in that one tire and that when we got back to Denver I would have the store replace it. Now that both rear tires were gone and our jack was completely destroyed we were hosed. I call roadside assistance and we waited for someone to show up. The biggest issue was how in the world we were going to get everyone to safety. Tow trucks do not come equipped to transport ten people. Luckily the roadside assistance guy went above and beyond and kept calling around for us until he finally connected with the Eagle County Sheriff's Department. They came out with one of their SUV patrol vehicles to help. When they realized we would not all fit inside his car he radioed the jail and they drove out one of their jail transport vans. The kids thought it was the coolest things ever. Megan asked if she could be cuffed. The Deputies took them a couple exits up and dropped them off at WalMart while I stayed with the van. I was told the tow truck would be there soon, but I ended up waiting for close to five hours. We had to get two hotel rooms for the night and I also found out that the store that sold us the original tires had put the wrong type on our van. They had installed four passenger tires that were not rated to handle a van our sizes.

The next morning I woke up early and walked to the next exit to WalMart and had them put four new Light Truck tires on the van. At 10:30 am we were finally able to get back on the road and head home. We made it home at 12:30 pm on September 2nd safe and sound.

Now that we are home I am doing battle with the tire company to reimburse us for all of the unexpected expenses caused by their error. I think it will turn out well. They are showing they are going to step up and handle this so far. I got two repair estimates on the damage the exploding tires did to the van. The lowest was $2,500.

It was an insane, but very fun weekend. Even though it began and ended with some craziness, it was well worth it and I can not wait to do it again.

Margaret Martha Powell Christley 08/07/1920 - 08/18/2008

2008-09-05T14:18:00.003-06:00

I am so happy that we went back to Roanoke, VA when we did. We had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my grandparents and family. On August 18th my dad called early in the morning to let us know that Grandma had passed away. She was 88 years old.

I did not know if I would be able to make it to the funeral, but thanks to my lovely wife I was blessed to fly out the day before her funeral. It was a wonderful spending time with my family sharing our memories of Grandma. She had a wonderful sense of humor and a quick wit. I remember enjoying listening to her and my grandpa telling stories of their past. Grandpa would tell his version and then Grandma would tell us how that wasn't how it was and proceed to tell us the truth. They made an hilarious comedy team.

My dad spoke at the funeral and did an incredible job. We laughed and cried the entire time. He reminded us how you could not go to Grandma and Grandpa's house without being fed or at least offered food. When he spoke about that it reminded me of when we walked in the door late one Saturday night in July, the first thing she asked was if we wanted anything to eat. She then laughed and said if we did we would have to get it ourselves.

We will all miss Grandma madly.

Panasonic Pics

2008-08-09T20:23:00.006-06:00

Being part of the Panasonic Living in HD family means that occasionally we are called upon to provide them with product feedback, send them pictures, videos and to fulfill other assignments.

Our latest assignment was to send them ten pictures of us using select Panasonic products. We spent a Saturday running around the yard taking pictures of each other. If our pictures are selected they will end up being put on the Panasonic Living in HD Mobile Tour tractor trailer. Imagine seeing one of our huge heads plastered on the side of a large truck screaming down the freeway. If one of our picture is selected we will let you know.

Roanoke Trip 2008

2008-08-08T14:42:00.003-06:00

We had a wonderful time in Roanoke. It was so nice to see everyone and let the kids get to know all of their family members on the east coast. I used to think that once all of the cousins grew up, that Roanoke would no longer be the same. I was completely wrong. There's now a second wave of cousins that live a lot like we did when we were young.

We originally planned to tour around Roanoke and visit several sites in Virigina. What we ended up doing was spending all of our time with family and swimming at Aunt Joyce's pool. The kids swam for hours and hours every day. They also ended up sleeping over at different family members houses almost every night. I think Madison spent the night with us maybe twice the whole entire trip.

I am so grateful for such loving and accepting family members. They accepted everyone into the family without missing a beat. Ireland had a blast with Heather's son Justin. They are the same age (5) and Ireland was convinced that Justin was his only cousin. When we were at the pool he would ask where his cousin was. When we told him that all of the thirty kids (not overestimating) in the pool were his cousins, he would shake his head and say that only Justin was his cousin.

All of the kids seemed to find someone that they bonded with that was close to their age. Anna and I used to do a lot together and it was funny that Tyler and Anna's daughter were buddy buddy too.

It was also great to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. They are doing well. Grandma struggles with her mobility, but overall they are pretty dang good for their age. Grandpa is 90 and Grandma is 87. I hope that I am doing as well as Grandpa is at 90 if I make it that long.

It was fun to hear their stories and to have them interact like they did when we were kids. Grandpa loves to tell his altered stories i.e. of their running off to get married, and many other things and Grandma tells him he is full of it and tells us what really happened. They make a great comedy act. The last night we were there a ton of family came down and we got Grandma and Grandpa to tell us stories from their past. It was so much fun. I heard a ton of things I had never heard before. We got a lot of it on video thanks to Panasonic.

It was sad to leave. It will always be home for me even though we moved to Denver when I was twelve. Several of our kids begged us not to go. They loved the fact that they had so many kids their age to interact with. It still is its own little safe haven from the world.

Afraid of the Washing Machine

2008-07-06T19:40:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been charged with packing my four kids for our trip to Roanoke. I failed to mentioned that that also entails having to do laundry. After much deliberation and text messages to Janese, I now have three or four potential loads of laundry piled in the laundry room floor. My problem is that I am afraid to put them in the washing machine. Don't even mention dryer!!

From my pre-trip instructions from my lovely wife I was told to keep the darks separate from the lights/whites and anything red should be washed in a red load. When I walked into the laundry room to start the process I noticed there was a purple pile already started. What in the world am I supposed to do with purple!?! Luckily Janese had just landed back in Salt Lake City after a quick trip to California when I texted her again for help. She told me I can decide on my own whether to put the purples with the reds or the darks with the purples. Is one better than another? Does purple bleed? What benefit could I potentially get by putting purple with red? Does it ultimately come down to the number of purple items I end up with after the final sorting? Is purple a red load filler? If I put them with blue jeans is there the potential of ending up with purple jeans? The pluses and minuses of my purple pile of laundry are coursing through my head.

Damn you purple!!!

I am also completely confused over what is considered a white/light. I of course know what white is, but what do you do with those mixed articles of clothing? While going through the sorting process I discovered a white shirt with dark blue stripes or maybe it was a dark blue shirt with white stripes. In what pile does that belong? Is it a dark or a white? Even more confusing are the oranges, pinks, and yellows that are now scattered throughout my potential white pile. Should I create a pastel pile? I am almost to the point of washing each individual article of clothing, currently lying in haphazard piles on the laundry room floor, one piece at a time. I think that way I would avoid causing anything to bleed over (ask me about my pink underwear on my mission) and being yelled at from every kid in the house for ruining a favorite shirt or pair of pants. I think at this point I will skip the dryer all together. Who in the world created those hieroglyphics on the tags of clothes these days anyway? How am I supposed to tell by some squiggly line whether I can throw it in the dryer or not?

Wish me luck. I am heading for the laundry room and need all the prayers I can get.

Damn you purple!!!

Preparing for Roanoke...Aaaaaaahhhh!!!

2008-07-05T15:50:00.000-06:00

Happy late Fourth of July! Janese is out of town with her four attending a Gillam Family Reunion in Utah, so the other kids and myself are holding down the fort. Yesterday we attended the Highlands Ranch 4th of July Parade and the local fireworks display later that night. It was a fun day. I got in a nap, which made it even better.

This next week the kids will be back at their mom's and I will be a bachelor with the designated task of packing myself and my four kids for our adventure to Roanoke, VA. We are going back to my home town to spend some quality time with my grandparents and other family members. I have been pretty concerned about driving 23.5 hours one way with eight kids in the van (insanity!) and how in the world would we make it in one piece, mentally and physically. We know from past road trips which kids need to be kept seperate and which kids work best sitting next to each other. For example, Q and Madison do not mix, especially for anything over 30 minutes worth of drive time. If seats are not assigned ahead of time, blood will be spilt.

I've decided now I am more concerned about how in the heck am I going to pack clothes for the kids?!? We are going to get to Roanoke and they're going to look like mismatched clowns for a week. I can just see Quinton freaking out and going around shirtless, because I accidently pack him one of Megan's shirts to wear that day. I can't tell whose clothes are whose! It is going to be really interesting when Janese gets back from Utah the day or two before we leave for Virginia and goes through my selections. I guess I will do the best I can. She has threatened me with my life if she comes home and nothing is done. If I have to, I might grab the kids from their mom's during the week and have them double check my work. I am amazed that Janese can pick up a sock and know who it belongs to!! I think socks should be disposable and biodegradable, so that eventually they just disappear in the washing machine. Aren't they already like that?

Grandpa Christley is very excited for us to come out. I am ashamed to say that I haven't been back in ten years. My last trip home was when Tyler was four and Zakary was 2. Grandpa has already called me several times from his cell phone wanting to know what type of milk we drink and the breakfast cereal we eat and when we expect to be there. I told him repeatedly that we are going to bring food and shop while we are there and feed them. Hopefully they let us serve them. They are wonderful people and I am so exited for Janese and the kids to meet them. I will make sure I post pictures and blog entries about our trip when we get back or somewhere with Internet connection during the Self Imposed Insanity Summer Tour 2008.

I am off to pack. Wish me luck!

Panasonic Family

2008-06-18T19:20:00.000-06:00

It is official! We have been selected as one of the Panasonic Living in HD families. It is so awesome to have all of the incredible Panasonic HD equipment in our home. The kids are all experts and do a great job using almost every piece of equipment. The people from Panasonic have been great. They actually sent out a person to train us on how to use everything (Panasonic school) and to make sure it was all set up properly. They also sent out an installation crew. We are in heaven!

To see us on the Panasonic web site go to www.panasonic.com/livinginhd/. Once at this site you can click on Meet the Community and by clicking on the picture of us, read about our experiences Living in HD.

Almost all of the pictures on our blog have been from our Panasonic digital cameras.

Thank you Panasonic!!!

Dad's Kicking Butt

2008-06-18T19:14:00.000-06:00

My dad is kicking butt on Isagenix. He is down 80 pounds since December 13th. I am very proud of him. Here is his before picture taken on December 13, 2007 and his latest picture taken on June 1, 2008.

Down 30 Pounds!!

2008-04-17T20:53:00.000-06:00

Before (February 2008)

After (April 2008)

I know what you are thinking, "why would you want less of such a good thing"? The weight loss is actually an awesome side benefit to the Isagenix cleansing program that Janese and I have been doing. I am still pain free and doing great! I am also wearing pants that I haven't been able to wear for the past three years. They have been sitting in the "some day" section of my closet and have been almost on their way to Goodwill several times. Janese has lost 14 pounds and looks incredible, but I was told that if I put her picture up I would be killed, and I believe her.

Slacker!!

2008-04-04T11:09:00.001-06:00

I have been such a blog slacker these past couple of months. I do not know how these bloggers that do multiple posts a day stay on top of things.

We have been very busy since my last post. Janese and I took it upon ourselves to paint the entryway and the upstairs and downstairs hallways of our home. It took a lot of paint, tape and sweat equity. Also since Janese can climb a really high ladder, but can not function once a few feet off the ground, I had to tape and paint all of the vaulted sections of the entryway. It went very well except for one night when I did not have the ladder high enough on the wall. In the middle of painting the ladder started to slide back down the wall. I started screaming like a little girl and Janese had no idea why, because it was a slow slide. Finally I was able to get some coherent words out of my mouth and she saved me from plummeting to my death. I was actually more worried about dumping a gallon of brown paint all over the entryway. It was the only gallon of brown we had. I also made enough noise to bring almost all of the kids running out of their bedrooms, after being down for the night, wondering what the heck was going on. The kids didn't appear too concerned about my dangerous situation and seemed more to enjoy telling me I scream like a girl.

Everyone is very busy. Tyler started a new season of hockey. His first game of the season is this Saturday. Madison, Zakary, Tanner, Megan and Makena all have some type of music lesson on top of Scouts, Young Womens and Activity Days. We need a full time chauffeur that can cart all of the monkeys around for us.

I'll post some picture of the new paint job and of the kids. Our new landscaping is starting to bloom and grow and it is very exciting. Once we get more growth I'll have to post a before and after picture of the landscaping as well.

Since my gorgeous picture below I have done two more cleanses. I am not down 26 pounds and several pant sizes. The weight loss, living pain free and new energy is awesome! The expense of buying new clothes is going to suck.

Garrin & Janese

2008-02-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last month we went to Mike and Carla's ward to bless their new baby. His name is Garrin and he is a cute little red head. Janese, Megan and I all took turns holding him throughout the afternoon. Even though we already have eight kids of our own we can't seem to get enough of babies. We will sometimes plan where we sit at Church so we can steal someone elses baby during the meeting. We get an instant baby fix and they get a small break. It's a win win!

The best part is after the meeting is over we get to give them back.

Cleanse!!

2008-02-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

I know what you are thinking, "That is one burning hunk of a gorgeous man!". Also no, I am not posting naughty pictures of myself on the Internet either. I started an Isagenix Cleanse on January 27th and ended it this morning. I don't know if you can notice much of a difference in the pictures, but on top of feeling incredible I lost 12 pounds.

The other great benefit from the cleanse is I haven't had a headache in 11 days. Before this cleanse I was taking 800 to 1,600 milligrams of ibuprophen a day. I haven't taken any since I started.

Now it's all about keeping my improved health going.

Party!!!

2008-01-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

Makena and I were both born on the 3rd of January. Normally that means I get to blow out candles on some girlie pink Barbie cake. This year Janese out did herself. On top of some awesome gifts we each had our own cake.

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Makena's Baptism

2008-01-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Makena was baptized today. She was very excited. I think she was most excited about getting her scriptures, which is a family tradition. After every kid is baptized they get a new set of scriptures as a gift. We have six down, two more to go

Makena was lucky she actually got baptized today at all. It seems like we always run into some type of problem on baptism day. On Tanner's, people forgot things important for the meeting and Ireland threw up all over the place. His Uncle Brad ran over to him and picked him up and proceeded to run him all over the room with Ireland throwing up, making sure they spread the barf over every part of the room. They acted like some type of horrible vomit sprinkler system.

When we arrived at the Church for the service at noon, the ward before us thought they were being helpful by draining the font and putting back all of the chairs. Somehow they failed to remember that 5 or 6 other wards had baptisms after them. We had to wait for 45 minutes to re fill the font with now freezing water. Once it was high enough they turned the water off and started the meeting. When it came time for the actual baptism they realized that the seal was not put in the drain correctly and most of the water we had put in had drained half way out again. Makena was baptized by her Grandpa Gillam and they tried to dunk her before the water was completely gone, but after two tries they gave up and we had to wait for the font to fill up a second time. Finally on the third try Makena was officially baptized. Quinton will be baptized in November of this year. I hope all the kinks are worked out of the system by the time his day comes along.

After the service was over and after dragging everyone out of the Relief Society room, we went to the Gillam's for lunch. They are wonderful people and great to be around. They take great care of the kids. It ended up being a good day. Joy made an awesome lunch and we hung out for a couple of hours.

It was a good day that I am sure Makena will never forget.

Thank goodness for my ipod!!!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

I want to wish our family and friends a very Merry Christmas. I hope everyone had a wonderful day with family and friends. I wish we could spend the holidays together, but being spread out throughout the country makes that difficult.

We had a great day. Janese and I got up at 6:30 am and got ready for the attack. I think this is the first time in my life that I took a shower before opening presents on Christmas morning. Normally I am woken up and dragged out of bed, but not today. I actually had to wake some of the kids up.

Our tradition is to open gifts one kid at a time, youngest to oldest. With eight kids that can take a while. It went by pretty fast this time. As the kids get older they mainly want electronics, which lowers the overall number of gifts they get due to Santa budget constraints. We video taped a lot of their opening of gifts (courtesy of Panasonic) and caught the different squeals of delight and excitement.

After we were done opening gifts, the downstairs looked like a Best Buy blew up in our family room. There was stuff every where. I spent the majority of today assembling all of the different toys, adding batteries, and trying to keep everything organized. Janese and I also helped everyone open up the boxes and take the toys out. In their excitement to open the box, the kids practically rip the toy itself apart. It does not make it any easier that the toy is virtually cemented inside the package with all of the tape, wires, and screws they use nowadays to keep everything in place in the box. I guess the ride over from China can get pretty bumpy?

The favorites this year seem to be the Guitar Hero III, Nintendo DS, Legos, iPod Nano, cell phone, and the many Wii and DS games. Some of the kids have not been seen since we finished opening gifts this morning. I am sure they are creating Lego villages in their rooms as we speak.

Thank you again to everyone for their awesome gifts. We appreciate your love and support and wish you all the best in 2008. We love you all tons and can't wait to see you again. Merry and Christmas and Happy New Year! May you be blessed with all the best in '08!

Megan and Ireland

2007-12-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

Megan loves babies and little kids. She goes out of her way to talk to kids younger than her and is very good with Ireland.

The other day we found some reindeer antlers with our Christmas decorations and her creative juices started flowing. Before we knew it Ireland was transformed into Rudolph the red nose white boy.

Service Projects

2007-12-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

Our service projects continue. I have committed our family to at least eight different service projects for a video project I am putting together (more to follow soon). We started with the visit to the Nursing Home in Payson, Utah. Since then the kids have done extra things around the house to raise money for "The moms" for the Smile Train and last night we went to Big Lots to fill two shoe boxes with $20 worth of gifts each for needy kids in South Dakota. It is for a reservation in South Dakota where people on average make about $3,500 a year.

I think the workers and customers at Big Lots thought we were crazy people. Janese and I split us up into a boy group and a girl group and each group had their box. I video taped a lot of the event and got some great footage. The kids ran all over the store debating over what they were going to put in their box. The boys chose to fill their box for a 10 year old boy. The girls put their box together for an 8 year old girl.

Unfortunately my camera battery was low, so I wasn't able to get everything. If I had been able to record it all I would have gotten shots of Makena falling head first into a display, Zak being told his breath smells like poop, Tanner trying to get me to record his "little dance" any time I was recording, and finally my making the kids walk around with their hands in their pockets for the rest of the evening. For the life of them the kids could not stop touching every single thing in the store. I was in charge of the boys and I had to keep reminding them who they were shopping for. If I hadn't, this poor 10 year old boy would have ended up with a fake pink cell phone, a brown and white feather bola, shampoo and several tiny nutcracker dolls that played Christmas music in his shoebox Christmas morning.

I think the store clerks were very happy when we left. I was extremely happy when we left. We got ice cream cones through the McDonald's drive through and then headed home for the night to pack our shoe boxes with the purchased items, decorate them and then to hit the sack.

We watched the raw footage before we went to bed and had several good laughs. I am excited to get everything put together. I think every single kid in our home loves to ham it up for the camera.

Thanksgiving Adventure

2007-11-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time in Utah for Thanksgiving. Thank you so much Amie and Dean!

The kids had a great time playing and getting to know each other better. There were a few minor arguments, but other than that the kids did awesome. They spent most of their time playing pool, building forts and watching movies. It was very nice having them entertain themselves.

We arrived Tuesday night after driving 7 hours and ate dinner at the McDonalds in Spanish Fork. We made it to Amie and Dean's around 6:30 pm. From the moment we arrived the kids scattered off in different directions and were doing stuff non stop until we left.

Kori and her friend Kelen arrived Wednesday afternoon. I was glad that she came. My four had not seen her for a long time and the Gillam's had never met her. They had fun with her holding them down and tickling them until they said how much they loved her and that she was their favorite aunt.

We joked that Kelen was the kids toy while we were there. They played with him all the time. At one point the girls convinced him to let them do his hair. They styled it with several different pony tails and hairsprayed it. I wish I had pictures.

On Wednesday night we went to a nursing home in Payson, Utah and sang and visited with the residents. We performed during their dinner hour with my sister and her family and a family from their church. Dean's grandmother lives there. Although our singing was pretty horrible, we did get applause and ended up getting requests. Amie and Hailey performed a flute duet, which was awesome. I am very impressed how talented they are.

One of the residents named Darlene sang with us the entire time. She was the hit of the group and is pictured above with Megan. She may not have gotten the words right, but she put her whole heart into every song. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids interact with the residents after we were done singing. I took several pictures and laugh out loud when I look at the facial expressions of some of the kids in the photos.

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. Amie did an incredible job. It was delicious. Amie worked her butt off and we totally appreciate it. Everything she made was incredible.

On Friday we went to Janese's sister Lara's house. Other than not being able to breath because of their cats it was nice having most of her family get together. Tyler bonded well with Lara's boys. The kids ran all over her house and through their yard the entire day.

Once we left I was able to breath through my nose again by the time we hit Provo. I am so glad we do not have cats!!

We got back home on Saturday night. We let the kids play Saturday morning while Janese and I packed up. They didn't want to leave. The kids were trying to convince us to stay another day and leave on Sunday. We made it home without any problems and it has been nice to have a day to relax and put things away before we start the week.

Thank you again Amie and Dean! We can't wait until you come and visit us.

Picture post

2007-11-06T14:21:00.000-07:00

No, I am not vain and conceited, but I needed to add my photo to my blog so I can add it to my profile. Does the Internet add 10 pounds to my head?

Since this blog is all about our crazy family, I thought I would add some details about each member of the family throughout the blog. Since I needed my head shot I thought I would start off with myself.

Janese and I have been married since June 4th, 2004. I am a sales representative for Liberty Mutual. I sell personal lines of insurance (home, auto, life) and I also have my securities license. I have been with Liberty Mutual for over a year now and love it.

I can't afford to have much in the way of hobbies with eight kids. I love to snowboard, but with insane lift ticket prices, I do not get up much. I have an awesome Rokenbok construction set. My excuse is it allows me to play with the kids, but I think every boy's dream is to drive around big, earth moving, machinery. This is the closest I will ever get to driving the big toys, unless I can convince my Uncle Mike to let me drive his bulldozer.

Janese says that I am her 9th kid. I love playing with the kids. They say I torment them, but I think everyone needs to be held upside down and tickled until they scream bloody murder now and then.

WWF

2007-11-04T18:45:00.001-07:00

I am going to have to ask my mom if when growing up, did we beat the crap out of each other on a regular basis? I have a couple of kids that must think they are part of the cast of the World Wrestling Federation. They are constantly beating each other up. What normally happens is that one of them throws the first punch. That kid is then pummeled within an inch of their life and then they come to me wailing and screaming bloody murder. When the truth finally comes out I end up sending them both to time out. I am sick of it! How in the world do I stop it? I may have to go back and watch reruns of the Brady Bunch, but I don't remember them punching, slapping, biting and clawing the living day lights out of each other. I guess we will figure it out. If I had enough duct tape I could tape them to the floor for a couple of hours.

Amie and I have been e-mailing each other about our blogs and Thanksgiving. We are going to spend Thanksgiving at their house this year in Elkridge, UT. It should be a lot of fun. Speaking of WWF, the drive up to Utah will be interesting. After being married for three years, we now know who needs to be seperated from each other to make for a peaceful road trip. Believe it or not we have to keep Madison (12) and Quinton (7) as far away from each other as possible. Q knows how to push every single person's buttons in the family and he goes through moods where he does it on a regular basis. If we do not keep him and Madison seperate in the van, we will have to listen to Madison whine and complain about him the whole entire eight hours. Luckily Amie's and our kids play awesome together. Harrison and Quinton generally find some way to get into a lot of trouble and everyone else races all over the neighborhood and has a blast.

Eight more days until install day!

Christmas Shopping

2007-11-03T19:27:00.000-06:00

Do people really want to know that we went Christmas shopping today? Janese and I start our Christmas shopping very early. Last year we were done in October. The mall and surrounding stores are so insane during the holiday season that we try and knock it out as fast as we can. We went out and shopped for a couple of hours. We will have all of the kids this year for Christmas morning, so that means we do all of the shopping. The amount of presents around the tree on Christmas morning is amazing. I am sure the garbage man hates us on that first pick up day after Christmas.

Today we had our site survey for all of the new equipment that is going to be installed in our home. The installer, Chris, gave us several suggestions and one of them was to remove part of Janese's Woodley's entertainment center. She wasn't too thrilled about that. She had it custom made during her first marriage. It is made out of maple, I think and it really big. Chris was concerned that we will get the new TV installed on the wall and it will look as if we are watching it from inside a box. I guess we will have to wait and see what they say on the 12th. Hopefully we can come to some type of compromise.

This has been an off week from having eight kids. We have my four every other week. I remember when I used to think that having four kids was a lot. My four come home tomorrow night. They go back and forth every Sunday night. Hopefully it is not too hard on them. It has to be difficult constantly changing houses. They are troopers. I know the Gillam four are always anxious for them to come home. On Sunday afternoon they usually start asking when the kids are coming home. The moment the kids are here they all shoot off to different parts of the house and start playing immediately. Half of the time I barely get a hug from them before they are busy playing with each other.

This week they are going to stay until Monday, the 12th. The 12th is when we are having the entertainment equipment installed and they will have someone here to teach us how to use everything. It will be HD school. Janese keeps teasing me about how excited I must feel with all of the new users manuals I will have to read. The picture about is what I took and submitted that helped us win the contest. If Janese knew I put this on the web she would kill me.

The First Attempt

2007-11-01T15:27:00.000-06:00

As the title of this blog entry would suggest, this is my first attempt at blogging. Is this the traditional first blogging attempt entry? I am a die hard Hugh Hewitt blog reader and have been curious and interested in starting my own. When my sister Amie decided to start her own blog I knew it was time to start my own. It probably has something to do with our competitive spirit inherited from our mom.

I am excited to be able to blog about our crazy family life. My wife (Janese) and I between the two of us have eight kids. I call it self imposed insanity. We each brought four kids each to the party. My wife's first husband passed away, so we have her four full time and my four every other week. The oldest is 13 and the youngest is 4. We have 5 boys and 3 girls. Our house is constantly on the move and can be totally calm or insanely loud and crazy.

The biggest thing going on with our lives right now is we won a major national contest. It is the biggest thing I have ever won in my life. I do not want to disqualify us in any way, so I will keep the details close to my vest for now, but I will eventually add a link to the official site so you can see what is going on. We are all extremely excited. It will be like having two Christmases (sp?) this year. I literally can hardly sleep at night thinking about it. It will be a lot of work, but more than worth it.