October 31

Reminiscence - Halloween

I LOVED Halloween while growing up. I didnt usually really get into extravagant costumes. I would usually go as a soccer player and use the uniform of the team that I was on that year. I was however, into the candy mongering. For a few years there I remember going with Darren Mansell on our roller skates to maximize our efficiency of travel in order to get to the next house as quickly as possible. There was one house up on Bridger Blvd (one of the rich ones) that would give out full size candy bars. That was always our first stop. We would also always use a pillow case for collecting. We dreamt big.
One year, when Brad was 3 or 4(?), I recall him tagging along behind us for a while. Then when we got home, he looks in his pillow case and sees just a few candy at the bottom-- and there was a big hole where the case ripped open from dragging along on the sidewalk after being weighed down by all the candy and Brad not being able to continue supporting its weight. :) We all went back out to track down his candy trail. We backtracked a bit and found a bunch of it scattered along the sidewalk, but nowhere near what he had originally collected. I bet the other kids walking up the street behind us thought they had hit the jackpot!
When I was 13, dad challenged us to not eat candy for a year and he would give us $100. I was the only kid out of the 7 of us who took up the challenge. My siblings were quite surprised since among us I was likely the biggest junk food junky. I figured I would start right after Halloween in 1983. That way, I could enjoy the spoils for a few days afterwards, then quit cold turkey. Then I could look forward to the feast the following year after going trick-or-treating again. I struggled with the challenge at first, but $100 was a huge incentive for me. I worked the system a bit by surviving on twinkies, ding dongs, chips and gum. (Of course gum is not candy...) It was a difficult year, but I survived with my ethics in tact. It was 'sweet' justice when I reaped the reward the next year of the money and the Halloween bounty!

10:30 AM | Add a comment | Read comments (2) | Permalink | Blog it

Austin's Baptism

undefined

October 30

Gordon 'O Lantern

Want to protect your house on Halloween? Just put this on your front porch. :)

3:20 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 29

Reading Test

2:08 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

Video Games make you smarter!

Awwww Yeah! For all of you skeptics out there, take a peek at the article below.  No wonder Austin is such a bright kid! (Yes, it runs in the familiy! ;))
Referring URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7064196.stm .
============================================================
Daily computer game boosts maths

The game was played every morning before lessons started
Playing a daily computer game has helped a class of primary school children improve their maths and concentration, a study says.
The children played the game every day for 10 weeks with "dramatic" results.
A class from the Dundee school took part in the project to show how computer games can enhance and build on classroom learning.
It is now hoped the resource can be used more widely across schools in the Scottish city.
The 30 children from St Columba's primary school - all aged nine and 10 played Dr Kawashima's More Brain Training game on a Nintendo DS console every morning before lessons for about 15 minutes.
The "game" is a collection of mini-games, such as number challenges, reading tests, problem-solving exercises and memory puzzles designed to exercise the brain by increasing blood flow to the pre-frontal cortex.

A targeted and managed use of such a game can help to enhance pupil numeracy skills and classroom behaviour
Derek Robertson, Learning and Teaching Scotland
Progress was compared to a school where 30 same-age pupils (from a similar socio-economic background) used a method called Brain Gym - a series of body exercises designed to increase brain activity and enhance learning - for three or four days a week over the 10-week assessment. and a control group which had no access to either Brain Gym or the DS game.
All three groups were given a maths test at the start of the project and the same one again at the end.
All groups had better scores after 10 weeks but the biggest improvement was in the Kawashima group, where the average score went up 10 points from 76/100 to 86/100.
Children who had low scores in the first test did particularly well and one pupil with special needs jumped from 25 to 68/100. No-one dropped below 65/100.
Improved behaviour
The other two groups did not show such across-the-board improvements and their second tests still had a number of children scoring in the 20s, 30s and 40s.
The average time taken to complete the test by the Kawashima group dropped from 17 minutes, 1 second to 13 minutes, 19 seconds.
Derek Robertson, from Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS), who devised the project, was struck by the "dramatic enhancement" in the Kawashima group's maths ability in such a short period of time.
He said: "The results of this small-scale Dr Kawashima project have shown how a targeted and managed use of such a game can help to enhance pupil numeracy skills and classroom behaviour."
There was also a noticeable impact on behaviour and levels of concentration throughout the school day, with the children becoming more self-confident.
Mr Robertson, a former teacher and university lecturer, said: "It had a real calming effect on children in the class.
"In fact I have never before seen such gains across the board."
Mr Robertson recognises this was a small study, funded by LTS, and not large enough for firm conclusions to be drawn, but he hopes to carry out a similar study on a broader scale, early next year.
He wants to involve a number of local authorities in the scheme with a view to using the game as an educational resource.
A Dundee city council spokesman said: "We are exploring the possibility of extending the scheme."

10:29 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 26

Reminiscence - The Piercing

I thought I was pretty cool in 8th grade. I was in English class and showing off for this cute girl, Wendy McKay (amazed I can still remember her name) We were talking about boys who had pierced ears. She asked me if I would ever do it. I took that as a challenge! I grabbed one of the big 5 pound Teacher Staplers and started pretending to staple it through my ear. I pressed it a few times, then accidentally a bit to hard. It went right through my lobe!! One of the prongs went all of the way through, and the other seemed to get smashed against my earlobe. You know how sometimes when you staple papers together, (Yes, that is the standard use for staplers...) that occasionally the staple will get stuck in the stapler if it wasnt a good stapling? That was what happened on my ear. The stapler was kind of stuck, and I had to pry it off of the staple. I then noticed that a bit of blood was dripping down my ear. Wendy just looked at me like I was crazy. (I guess I had just proved to her that I was crazy) I then cautiously unpried the part of the staple that had gone through my ear and pulled it out. By this time, the whole class had seen what I had done and stared on in amazement to see what the verdict was. The teacher asked me if I needed to go to see the nurse as she rolled her eyes at me. (I guess she was used to my shenanigans by this time :)) I said Id be fine just going to the bathroom to wash it off.  We had a school dance later that day, and the story had gotten around pretty good by then. I had all sorts of people coming up to me to see my new 'piercing'. By then, it had started to turn black and blue-- it wasnt too pretty-- but it sure made me popular with the ladies! ;)

2:31 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 25

Reminiscence - Soggy T.P.

What do teenage Utah boys do in the summer when there aren't snowballs available to throw at cars? Just sit right back, and you'll hear a tale... a tale of a fateful night...

Yes, we were bored. It was late at night in the summer of 1984. I was with Andy Bingham and Mike (cant remember his last name). We took a couple of rolls of toilet paper and a bucket of water up behind the house onto the hill above Highland drive. I cant remember whose idea it was to throw soggy TP as this was my first experience with it. (Yes, I know now that this was dangerous, but at that time, it just sounded fun. Kids, do not try this at home!) It was a pretty good spot because we were on a rise about 20 feet above the road. We initially splatted a couple of cars and were quite enjoying ourselves because nobody had stopped. Then about 10 minutes in, one guy slams on his brakes and jumps out looking around. Now it was my turn to stand there like a deer in the headlights. My friends took off as soon as they heard the brakes. I stood there motionless for about 30 seconds- petrified. Then the guy looks up the hill and spots me. He starts running up the hill. I finally decide I should start running. I take of like a cheetah. As you can see from my diagram above, my shoe came off mid sprint. Not wanting to leave any evidence for my pursuer, I stop and turn around to grab my shoe. As I turn, I can see the guy bearing down on me. I turn, and without having time to put my shoe back on, take off again. At this point, the hunter was right behind me and I actually felt his hand swipe at the back of my shirt to grab me. That was enough to give me an extra adrenaline rush and I burst away from him. I got up to the fence and he was a few yards behind me. I throw my shoe over the fence, jump, grab the top of the fence, and basically hurdle it in a single bound. I don't even turn around to see if he is still following me. I set a new land speed record at that time. I was a pretty fast runner, but that was probably the fastest I had run in my life.
Yet another case of the 'brain-dead teenager'

1:10 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

Bobcat in the House

Along with getting baptized, another fun part of turning 8 for Austin is that he gets to start in cubscouts. He has already been actively engaged in completing the requirements for the Bobcat rank and was awarded this first badge at pack meeting last night. It was fun to go to the pack meeting and see the exuberance among the boys. Brings back lots of fond memories-- the cheezy jokes and skits, the variety of "applause" methods (watermelon cheer, anyone?), and the flag and award ceremonies. Austin was the first to go up for his award as he was a newcomer and they introduced him. LeAnn and I also got to join him. It is a bit strange to stand on the other side of the award after all these years. He got a bobcat pin which they put on his shirt upside down. (Apparently, they used to turn the cub scout upside down when he got this award, but they cant do that at the church anymore. I told Austin I would turn him upside down later. :)) Then, once he had done a "Good Turn", he could turn the pin the right way up and then present it to his mother. After the meeting they had Halloween cookies and we left. We went and picked up Autumn from Activity Girls and after getting back in the car, Austin tells me he cant find his neckerchief slide. (I guess it slid off somewhere in transit) So that wasn't a big deal, but then we get home and I ask him where his Wolf Book is. He looks around the car and cant find it. D' OH! Good thing you can usually trust people at the church to return things to the lost and found. Now, if he comes home from next weeks den meeting without his shirt on, we might have to reconsider the whole thing!

12:11 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 24

Girls under 6 Tigers 2007

Here is Jaylin's soccer team. From left to right: Coach Angelica, Casey, Mackenzie, Jaylin, Hope, Kaya, Alicia and coach.
They sure are fun to watch! Jaylin is doing such a great job. Now that it is getting dark sooner, we are running out of time to practice. Only three more soccer Saturdays until the off season. :)

2:22 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

Reminiscence - No, girls throw like THIS!

When I was in 7th grade, my friend Ryan Campbell and I were walking home with a couple of girls, Stacey and Tracy. (Yes this was an exciting prospect for us and we thought we were soooo cool. ;)) A few blocks in, we started to tease them, (because that's what boys do when they like a girl, right?) and showing them how girls throw. We would pick up some rocks with our left hand and throw them awkwardly down the street. I don't think the girls thought we were as funny as we thought we were. So, Stacey picks up a rock and says vehemently, "No, girls throw like THIS!" She proceeds to throw the rock hard and it nails Ryan in the head and cracks his forehead open. He starts bleeding profusely and Stacey is mortified. She went on about how she didn't mean to, and it was an accident. She was incredibly embarrassed and continued to apologize as we went to another nearby friend's home to clean it up.
Those in glass houses (or girls that cant throw) shouldnt throw stones...

8:05 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 23

Reminiscence - The Wrath of Todd

In 1985 we moved from Sandy to Holliday. Up until that point, I had had a good basketball career at my middle schools and was ready to try out for the Olympus Jr. High team. It is always tough transitioning to a new school with all of the social issues to deal with, but even tougher to try and make a ball team where the coach has had the same guys on his team for the previous two years. I felt like I did really well and performed good enough to make the first two cuts. I knew I was better than a bunch of guys that were on that final roster before the last few guys got cut. I even had a few guys on the team telling me that I would make it. However, favoritism won out and the coach stuck with the guys he knew. I was crushed. I could not believe it when that final roster went up and my name was not on it. I fumed all of the way home on the mile walk back to our house. I stormed in the door, grumbled down the stairs, and proceeded to punch the wall at the base of the stairs. All of that pent up fury put my fist right through the wall! (Good thing I didnt hit a stud ;)) It gave a whole new meaning to the word "Vent"
*postscript* I did get some satisfaction in seeing the team struggle that year and also seeing that one of the guys shot 2/19 in one game. Take that coach Slater! ;)

3:51 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 22

Reminiscence - Feral cats in the breadbox

Its a good thing I have a witness on this one, because most people don't believe this story. I was 16 and we were living in the house on Camille Drive. I am sitting downstairs watching TV one afternoon when Kelly comes running downstairs screaming like a maniac. She tells me I have to come upstairs because she saw something moving in the bread drawer. I'm like, "Sure, whatever", but she persisted and basically dragged me upstairs. She seemed very adamant that something was in there, so by the time we got to the kitchen I almost started to believe her. I cautiously approached the drawer where we kept loaves of bread next to the fridge. I pull it open really quick and three psychotic kittens jump out hissing and scratching! They were literally freaking out and bouncing off the walls running around like little possessed maniacs. They ran crazily to the back patio door (luckily it was open, because I sure didnt want to try and grab any of the freaks) and then, in their panic, squeezed through the chain link fence holes on their mad dash to freedom. It was one of the weirdest things I had witnessed in my life. I still have no explanation as to how they got in the drawer- Im pretty sure they weren't born in there (no afterbirth), and the bread wasnt that stale. ;)

3:45 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

Reminiscence - Flatulent cell phone

During the summer of 2005 I was the Young Mens president for our ward. We had many planning meetings for our upcoming youth conference, which we were holding on Orcas Island. At one of these meetings, I went to the church after work to meet with sister Fife and brother Fisher. We were sitting around a table with myself in the middle, s. Fife on my right and bro Fish on my left. About 10 minutes into the meeting, a large toot erupts from out of nowhere. Based on the proximity of the sound, I looked over at sis. Fife with eyebrows raised. 2 seconds later another blast comes from that general area. She is looking at me like I am nuts. (of course I would be the primary suspect). Then it dawns on me. The flatulence is coming from my laptop bag which I had placed on the floor between our two chairs. I exclaimed, "Oops, that must be me!" and reach in and grab my cell phone which was still honking away. The culprit was Dave Jones. I had momentarily forgotten that I assigned his number with this "fun" ring tone. (We had been car pooling to work for a number of months, and I knew the more "relaxed" side of Dave...)  Usually, when I get a phone call I was in my office or in my car, so it was fairly safe to get a call from Dave at those places. To this day, I still think that Dave was just waiting for me to get to that meeting before he gave me a call. ;)

12:02 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

Boys Under 8 Pirates 2007

They just posted our team picture on the league website. Here it is:

From left to right: Nicholas, Jarun, Adam, (Coach Miller) Dominic, Mason, and Austin. Missing from the picture: Gunnar. Instead of saying 'cheese' for this picture, we said "ARRRRRRRRRRRRG!"

7:41 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 21

Jaylin's Hat trick

Jaylin has officially joined the Miller Family hat trick club! Yesterday, she was on fire during her game. She really got after the ball and took it straight to the goal three times. It was such a thrill to see her doing so well. I love the fact that the 5 year olds don't have a goalie. It makes it so much more fun and exciting.  Most of the girls faced with the prospect of an open goal (about a 4 foot wide goal) in front of them and no defense on a break away will only make it about 50% of the time. You can only hope that the other team misses on those break aways. Jaylin did a great job and scored on all three of her open shots. It was awesome!! Granted, the other team ended up scoring a bunch of goals as well, but it was much more fun to watch than last week where we lost by about 10 goals. Its also nice to see that the parents aren't quite as intense when the children are younger. Each year as they progress and the competition gets more intense, the parents also seem to get more overly aggressive on the sidelines as well.
In Austin's game, he did super as well. We played against a tough team who had a kid that was probably 30 pounds heavier than anyone else out there. He was quite a bruiser and bashed through our guys a few times before the ref started calling it. He knocked Austin down a few times, but Gunnar, our biggest boy held his own and fought back well. I was proud of all of them how they kept getting up when they got knocked down. However, we persevered and won the game 2-1 as Austin scored both of our goals. It was exciting to see that the boys are getting to be better passers now (of course I am yelling at them to pass out of situations where it is 1 on 3 and we have a guy open in the center) One of the goals Adam gave a great assist to Austin when he passed it out of trouble and Austin took a perfect shot for the winning goal.

10:39 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

Fruitidairytarian

Autumn has been our only child who has decided that she is not particularly fond of any type of meat. No burgers, steak, fish, pork and minimal chicken. I have gone through the scriptures and shown her that all things are put here for the benefit and use of man... for food and for raiment... to no avail. She is not a vegan, but has been as close to a vegetarian as anyone that I am related to.
So tonight, LeAnn had made some wonderful stir fry and fried rice. I even saw Austin hovering over the stir fry dish inhaling and saying to himself "I am in heaven" ;) The stir fry had onions, carrots, zucchini and mushrooms in it, along with chicken. We passed it around and told each of the kids they needed to try one of everything. Autumn continued to play with her food for a while and I asked her why she hadn't even tried the chicken yet. She tells me the only type of chicken she likes is chicken nuggets. I then teasingly tell her that since she is a "vegetarian", she should at least eat the vegetables. It was then that she declares: "I decided that I am not a vegetarian, I am a 'fruitidairytarian'!" Heh. that was quite a word combination, but seems to perfectly describe her. She loves cheese and milk along with ice cream of course, as well as many types of fruit, so I guess she is right and has created a new nomenclature for her style of eating preference.

10:20 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 19

Holy Hammers Batman!

Little Brother Brian (Lil' B - inside joke that most everyone else calls him "Big B" as he comes in at 6'6" ) just sent this vid of a guy juggling hammers which will blow you away!

 

9:32 AM | Add a comment | Read comments (1) | Permalink | Blog it

October 18

Reminiscence - Suicide Rock

In one of the truly exceptional cases of being a "Brain-dead Teenager", in the fall of 1988, I went with the "Dudes" (J.R. Broadbent, Russ Park, Ben Thomas, John Dean, Steve Tate, among others), and we went on a late-night excursion to Suicide Rock. Suicide Rock is a huge stone formation at the base of Parley's Canyon, just off of I-80 in SLC, Utah. It has been a painting ground for graffiti ever since I can remember. The story of Suicide Rock goes as follows:
For hundreds of years this huge formation of red sandstone rock loomed up in the middle of the mouth of the canyon and served as a watch tower for the Indians. Legend tells of an Indian maid watching for the return of her warrior husband from battle, saw his body draped over his pony, and in her grief threw herself off the top of the rock to her death. Hence the name of Suicide Rock has been attached to this rock formation for over 150 years.
It was right before our homecoming, and we decided we were going to paint the big flat spot at the top right of the rock with an "O" for "Olympus", our High School. (This is the portion with the "U" on it in the picture below:

Someone had gone and got some paint-- white for the base and green for painting the "O" on top. (Man, we were stupid!) We got out there really late and made the trek up to the rock. Now, up to this point there was much debate on who would do the "right side of the "O"". Everyone was chickening out because on that side of the rock there is quite a drop. I boldly *idiodically* said since all of the rest of you are sooooooo scared, that I would do it. (Did I mention that I am terrified of heights?) I must have had some crazy amount of testosterone mixed with a large amount of adrenaline going on that night. (Also, did I mention that usually it is recommended that you have mountain climbing gear to climb this rock?) Im not sure how tall the rock is, but it is huuuuuuuge. The pic below should give a better sense of scale:

Someone got up there and basically dumped a gallon of whitewash on the top. Then, without waiting for it to dry, the rest of us went up with our brushes. I shakily crept out to the right side. It was a good thing it was dark and I couldnt see down, or I might have backed out. I recall painting it quite quickly and shaking the whole time. I had to put on a brave face, but I was petrified. Looking at that picture now, I realize I was mental. Nothing like some good ol' peer pressure to give a guy false courage! Luckily, we made it back down unscathed. We waited til the next morning and then went and got some pictures of it. It was very cool!!! Then someone said, "Hey Mod, (They all called me "Mod Tiller" -reversed my initials) why is the right side of the "O" so crooked?" I then realized that I was trying the best I could to shy away from that right ledge, so I didnt get the line to straight.
Another item to add to this exciting experience was that we were playing Skyline (our HS rival) in the homecoming game. We drove by their School Marquee out front of their school that morning because we had another trick up our sleeves. Their marquee said "Rock Oly"-- referring to rock us in the football game. The "dudes" drove up there-- about 10 of us (for back up, just in case a rumble commenced ;)), and John Dean, who was in charge of the Olympus marquee, pulled out his letter changing suction cup thingee. In about 10 seconds flat, he changed their marquee to say "OLY ROCKS", and then we got a few pictures of that and sped off without confrontation. It was a sweet gag. Then we took the pictures of the "O" on suicide rock, and the "OLY ROCKS" from the Skyline HS marquee, and created a slide show for the pep rally before the game. The school went nuts when they saw those slides. Yes, I felt quite prideful, but looking back now realize how NUTS I was.

1:49 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

October 16

Technical Training

Besides the coursework I am completing at college, my Agency at Microsoft, Volt Computer also offers training in current  technologies. They each go for two hours a day, twice a week. So far, these are the courses I have taken:

• Introduction to ASP.NET
• XML Techniques with C#
• Introduction to Scripting with JavaScript
• AJAX Web Programming
• Project Mangement IV
• Text File Operations with C#

Never stop learning...

1:01 PM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

Piano Lessons

One of the greatest gifts that LeAnn's mother, Janice has given our kids is that she comes down and gives them piano lessons each week on Wednesday. (Thats beside the fact that the Thorne's gave us our upright piano a couple of years ago) It is a wonderful legacy that she has given to both Autumn and Austin. The first year it was just Autumn, but the past 6 months or so, Austin has started as well. Both of them love to play and can even be caught practicing every once in a while! Then last night, when I came home on Monday, I heard someone playing and for a moment I thought it was Wednesday. Then I looked over and Austin was playing with Grandma Miller (Mom and dad had been staying with us for a few days as they came up for Austin's baptism) this time! I told her that she should come up weekly to give them lessons-- how they would excel if they got lessons from each grandmother once a week! ;)
It is great to have such talented grandmother's (Both Grandma Thorne and Grandma Miller play the organ for their respective wards in Mukilteo, WA and Midvale, UT>)

11:35 AM | Add a comment | Permalink | Blog it

The Knighting

[Editors note: This is a snip from an email I received-- not a first person account]
Adding a more extensive account from Meridian Magazine that was passed on to me today: http://meridianmagazine.com/photoessay/071015moment.html
"For anyone else who was confused about what the audience was laughing at during general conference Saturday morning...
Great Conference Moment
After President Hinckley finished with the sustaining of the officers of the church during the Saturday morning session, Elder Eyring had moved into his new seat on the stand. Unfortunately, they didn't show this on TV, but when President Hinckley turned around, he stood there for a moment looking at Elder Eyring (probably with the little twinkle in his eye), then picked up his cane and "knighted" him on his shoulder and head. Truly one of the funniest things I've ever seen him do.
Here's the picture from it. I love how Elder Erying looks just like a little boy...."