Jenna gets her permit

She passed her test for her permit! I feel so proud of her. Now to learn to drive in Orem! 

Practicing in the parking lot at church.

Thanksgiving Play, Trev the cranberry

The night before the last day of school before Thanksgiving break, Trev said he needed to wear a red shirt and black pants for the 4th grade play. About that time I also got an email from his teacher. This was the first I was hearing about a play. Trevor also said, “oh yeah and I have a kind of big part.”

I was so happy to just happen to be off work that day so I could go. 

Trev represented the under appreciated cranberries and the Thanksgiving table and served as their leader to rise up and gave a bigger part in Thanksgiving. 

“And now for a moment of cranberry solidarity. Cranberries, cranberries we throw off our chains and we reach for the skies. This is a moment to celebrate.

Yes, we are ready to take our rightful place as the main course.

No form of zucchini is going to shove us off The table as the main meal.”

11/20/18

Twenty one pilots

Jenna and I went to the twenty one pilots concert on the night of November 13. We started our date with a quick stop at ShopKo to see about getting a fanny pack. All they had was a kitty cat one. Thankfully it was only $12, and it was convenient for the concert not to carry a purse. Then we ate at Jersey Mike’s. Then we were anxious to get on the road at about 5:30 to Salt Lake. The traffic was exquisite in the delays and congestion. We did find parking pretty easy and walked about two blocks to the Vivint center. We walked around the arena twice before we realize we needed to go upstairs to get to our seats. Our seats were  pretty good. We sat in front of a group of 5 to 6 teenage boys that were fun to listen to. The openers were Max Frost and AWOLNATION that I was only neutral on,.... But when twenty one pilots finally came on stage at about 9 PM, it was awesome! In fact the awesomeness of it put me in a good mood the whole next day thinking of the music and the fun time I had with Jenna. Now a few days later I feel like I’m searching for that same feeling again. It was awesome and I have a new respect and appreciation for the musicians, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun. I think what’s most special is the time that I could spend with Jenna. This music group helped her through her rough time in late 2017 and early 2018. I used to worry about the music being kind of dark and talking about mental health and suicide, when in reality it seems to be something that she could relate to and gave her hope to keep going. She bought 2 tickets in July 2018. We sat on my bed and I helped her to find two tickets together. She bought them with her own money. She knew that I would not allow her to go with just her and a friend at age 15. So she accepted that it would just be me and her. She knew that twenty one pilots was not my most favorite type of music and I only knew a few of their songs that I remotely enjoyed. As time went on, I begin to listen more to the band and I watched some YouTube videos of the music videos and interviews with Tyler and Josh. She made me a concert playlist on my iphone of what they would be playing on their Bandito tour. I came to really enjoy the music and listened to it quite often. 

Standing there in the sold out arena with Jenna singing to the music and watching her happiness was really awesome. I am grateful for the experience that I GOT to go with her, not that I HAD to. I paid her back for my ticket and she got some twenty one pilots merch that she was happy to sport to school the next day. 

Gage is probably the second biggest fan in the family only because he idolizes Tyler and Josh and loves music, not because it helped him through a hard time. Come to find out, he could’ve come to the concert such was the atmosphere. There were lots of kids there, in fact. We got him a beanie and a poster and he watched all the little videos that we took of the concert. He seems satisfied with that.

The music of twenty one pilots has bonded Gage and Jenna. They were Bandidos together for trick-or-treat night and they can be found listening to music together, dancing, and even painting or drawing twenty one pilots art.

I guess what I’m feeling today is gratitude for music, particularly the music of twenty one pilots and the positive impact it has had on my family. I am also grateful that Jenna is doing well with  her mental health. I love all my children and I’m grateful to be a parent, and to be a part of their lives! 

Jenna

My artist 

Gage is the newest member

Gage was baptized by his Dad on November 3rd, 2018. It was a great program. 

Trev conducted the music, Zac gave a great talk on baptism, and Jenna gave a heartfelt talk on the Holy Ghost. Steve gave a beautiful blessing after Gage received the Holy Ghost. 

Afterward we had a nice get-together at our house. 

I









I don’t have any pictures of the after-party except this awkward one of Gage by his cake.