Super Blood Wolf Girl

"Super Blood Wolf Moon". Silly. I can think of lots of names cooler than that. How about "Spider Bark Toot Moon"? "Rabid Dog Spank Moon"? Oh well.

Or, how about a superbabe called Super Blood Wolf Girl! Here she is!

Fwd: Rome Italy Temple (2)

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Isaac Benge
Date: Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 1:04 PM

Baptistry, Bride Room, Celestial Room, Staircase, Visitor Center

Fwd: Rome Italy Temple (1)

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Isaac Benge 
Date: Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 1:03 PM

They finally released temple photos: here you go

Carpet Diem and Mandrew

The last few days got really busy as Andy Johnston, bless his enormous and wonderful heart, recently offered to install carpet in our home, using rolls of carpet that apartments no longer want. We have carpet installers at our home right now (Carpet Diem!) putting carpet in the living room and the hallway and three bedrooms upstairs. 

[Note: I wrote this yesterday but didn't have time to send it! The carpet upstairs is in!]

I am excited for the carpet, which we really really really need and appreciate. Prepping is a pain, of course. Its a lot like moving to a new home without going anywhere. 

Check out our Family Room. Cozy!

Fortunately, we aren't doing it all at once. I plan two more visits to get it all done.

Possibly Interesting Stuff You Can Learn on Facebook When Not Preparing for Carpet

Without any missionaries out, I am no longer a consistent emailer. I apologize.

I have a post coming all about prepping for new carpet. It will be very exciting. Ha ha! You just caught me guile! But it will have pictures, when my DropBox finishes updating.

In the meantime, I will share about something I found interesting but probably isn't.

The other day, when I was not prepping for carpet, I was looking for and at some Facebook posts of fellow Taiwan Taichung Mission missionaries. Uninterestingly, I find most FB posts uninteresting. You can learn what someone ate for breakfast. You can learn that someone appreciates their spouse or child or parent on their birthday. You can learn that someone went somewhere besides their backyard. You can learn that someone went in their backyard. 

Christmas Eve Performances

Our Christmas Eve program was fantastic. I enjoyed the music and entertainment, and the testimony meeting was wonderful!

First was "How the Brinch Stole Christmas". Rachel wrote, narrated and tried to direct it:

Newsies But Goodsies

Newsies opened last night, and I took Lucy, Rachel, Joshua, Enoch and Esther to see it, and we all loved it. There are many good things about it, but I thought the choreography was especially outstanding.

One of the parents took some really good photos, and I have been digging through them and I couldn't find a single one of Andrew ... and then I bumped into this low-light shot:

A Small Harp Walks into a Bar ...

... and exclaims "This harp is thirsty!"

The bartender responds, "Aren't you kind of small to be a harp?"

"Are you calling me a lyre?"

Ba da, dum!

It was great seeing y'all around Thanksgiving time! I just needed more time with you.

I am still trying to get some photos on the blog and then I can send you links. For now, I think I will 1) share a truthful photo,  2) tell you too much about first name choices and why that is geeking me out, and 3) attempt to tell a story.

Happy at Work

This is what my workplace looked like after a meeting today. It made me happy. (Susie, show this to Esther. She will probably be happy, too.)

Warped Humor

At least one child of mine did not understand my last voting-joke email. I thought it was funny, but maybe that is just because I am an old man and seen lots of voting scandals: dead people, imaginary people, rounding up the homeless, etc.

What about this? Is this funny?

Turning in Your Grave

My friend, Bret Cutler, sent this to me today. If I had been drinking milk, I probably would have spit it out through my nose as I laughed!

I can't believe my grandpa is going to vote Democrat for the first time ever. ...

... he never would have done that when he was alive.

Happy election day!

Of Minor Interest

While doing some research on the records we have at the Church History Library today, I happened upon a filmstrip explaining Chinese ancestor worship and religious practices to missionaries in the Taiwan Taipei Mission. It was created in 1974 or 1975, over 10 years before I served a mission in Taichung.

I found the filmstrip on Youtube. If you are interested, or are filled with filial piety, watch some of it.

The narrator is a young AP in the Taiwan Taipei Mission named Garret W. Gong.

Kicking Myself. Not the Tires.

When the catalytic converter fell off, I debated whether or not to give up on the Honda. Tunex told me I had a head gasket leak and it would cost over $1600 to fix. But with Tory Mesmer's help, we checked for coolant or anything else in the oil and found none. And even after added dye to the coolant I couldn't see any evidence it was leaking outside either. And, just in case, I put in some head gasket sealant. 

I then spent a couple hundred bucks replacing the ignition coils and spark plugs, and replaced the thermostat, the temperature sensor and the temperature switch (I did all these myself to save money.) I still overheated later, but then found I needed to "burp" the radiator and was low on oil. It was then working fine. I felt like I had licked the problem and could get at least another year out of the car. The catalytic converter is a very pricey thing, but I thought $900 would now be well spent.

Oops.

Never Enough Musicals

Miriam wanted to do another musical with Jaks Theater, and landed one of the lead roles as Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Congrats!

I don't know if it is a desire to be the biggest fish in a little pond, or if she really dislikes the high school drama director so much she won't try, but she was willing to pay a few hundred to join the show. She also quit her job at Chick-fil-a. And I am now required to buy x-number of seats and support yet another show with my time and money. (Maybe one day I will have a child in show that is expected to be good enough to make money the old fashioned way: by earning it.) I'm not sure how to do it, but I guess I will be helping to build two sets this year, among other things. I only have so many biceps to tear.

Miriam also did a solo Monday night. Here is Miriam singing "Never Enough" at the high school concert. 

Bee YU!

While watching the game, a pretty cheerleader showed up:

The Past Is a Blast

While looking for pictures of Joshua, I saw this photo of Lucy from 10 years ago. It reminded me so much of Esther I did a double-take. So, I thought I'd share!

I love you, sweet Lucy!

An Atheist, a Vegan and a Crossfitter Walk into a Bar

I only know this because they told everyone in the first two minutes.

You're welcome!

This is the email I started days ago. I have been terribly at sending updates, pictures, etc. I will attempt to report by responding to your questions. (I know these are your questions.)

Q. Have you come up with any good names for rock bands lately?

A. Probably hundreds. Here are three pretty good ones that came to mind recently:

1. Misophony (well, if we are really bad or if Miriam can't stand us)
2. The Thickening Plots
3. Probably Hundreds

Q. Have you had any groan-worthy dad jokes or puns lately?

Excitement

This is our excitement tonight:

The street shown above is the one just to our East, toward Altice's. In fact, the emergency vehicle at the bottom of the at the end of the photo is in front of the Altice's. As it says in the article: 

Nut Shell Recipe

I just thought I'd share the gist of Brother Richardson's message during our youth conference trip to Temple Square. It was much more entertaining than a single photo, but I hope this will remind us of the recipe for revelation.

Happy Birthday to Me!

First, I want to tell my Mom that blood clots are not allowed, especially not in your lung, or anywhere else. I hope you are doing well and feel much better soon!

Tuesday is the official release of the first volume of the new official history of the Church, Saints. One of the Church History directors, Keith Erekson, came to Riverton and gave us a very interesting lecture on the creation of the work. 

He also gave us all a copy of the first volume as thanks for our help as the technical people support the software for publishing, cataloging, finding, digitizing, etc.