Hey Jude Flowchart

On the street where you live

This is a picture of the street we live on.
This picture was taken today,
Through the front window of my work car,
With my cell phone.
Kind of pretty...minus the bugs on the window.

Skeptical Hippo

Periodic reflective peas

Ever known this guy?

Yeah, me too.

I've been reflecting lately.

I read some articles on Blogging and what should be in blogs and what shouldn't. I read articles in the Ensign and listened to talks by M. Russell Ballard discussing elements of blogging and other "internetland" communication. From all the information I've read I've discovered a few things.

They are:

1. It looks like I'm doing a lot of things wrong. (You know what they are, I don't have to point them out) By wrong, I mean things ranging from plagiarism to security issues (giving out names and addresses, hair color, maiden names)
2. There are many other blogs that I admire and look up to, if you will.
3. My blog is kind of reflection of my own life (unfortunately).

While these things are mostly negative that I've explained, I've come to realize that:

• if you want a sweet loving blog, go here.
• if you want good recipes and country living, go here.
• if you want good writing, humor and Boise landscapes, go here.
• if want consistent sweetness, go here.
• if you want to know more about the Wood River valley and the Hope's, go here.
• if want flat out pure virtuous inspiration, go here.

On the other hand, if want flat out pure ludicrous, scratch your head, premeditated and attempted humor, go to: The Daily Item. To which I say:

"Sorry folks, this is all I've got."

I can't be the the things I admire in all of the other blogs that I've posted above. I have made attempts, but to no avail. After all my trying I end up coming right back to the same old schtick (like this: go here!). See what I mean.

But I take comfort in knowing that this planet needs, all types (you have no idea how many times I've been told that) and I fit the bill for that description.

And now for something completely different....

Dreaming of Asian food: Any Asian food

Ever had that dream that you'd cross a flooded street up to your neck just to get some descent Asian food because you live in a valley that has good Asian food but charges an arm and a leg for it??

Me too. All the time.

From the Jacob Hope Anthology: Beware, it's harsh

OK... I worried about posting this claymation film by Jacob. Currently you can only find this film on the released Anthology or from some Soviet websites casting it as a bootleg. Either way it is graphic and harsh...yet so compelling. So, turn up the volume and hold on to your hat.

Evil to the core

Since Halloween is approaching I thought I'd show you what the most evil people on the planet do.

Continual subliminal theme of the Daily Item as described in comic illustration.

Pride and Prejudice: Hope style

Our amazing daughter Sarah Hope has been cast as "Mrs. Bennett" in the Wood River high school production of "Pride and Prejudice." Sarah has been working on her lines with pretty much all of us which means we have all had the opportunity to play one Bennett or the other. Jessica and Mom have put in the most time with our budding superstar actress.

Make plans to come to the production and see Sarah!

November 4-7

Some things that Mormons do

Some Mormons come from large families. I didn't.

*I was an only child until my parents divorced. After my parents divorce my Father married a nice lady (Maralyn)that had two lovely daughters (Marla and Kelli) and would later have a lovely son (David). My Mother remarried and she had a lovely son (Jeremy). One brother from my Mother's side and 2 sisters and one brother from my Father's side brought the sibling count to 2 brothers and 2 sisters and we love each other.

That's a lot!

Some Mormons create large families. I did.

*Ruth and I married and had plans to have 6 children. We did and thought we were finished. Then we were blessed with one more. Penny. Bringing the total children count to 7!

We love each other.

That's a lot!

Some Mormons like to be left alone by themselves. I don't.

*Unless I have a nasty migraine or I'm really tired. Or there's only 3 cups of chocolate pudding in the fridge, in which case I will take all three cups into my bedroom and lock the door, eating them until they are all gone.

Some Mormons like to get together with other families and hang out. I do.

*I like to get together with other Mormon families that think the way we do. Sometimes we go to other families homes, (Ames, Walks, Farnsworths, Larsens, Rigbys, Yates, Ripleys, Mitchells, etc..)

Some Mormons Like to go on Vacation. I do.

*We like to drive anywhere our car can go and explore as a family.

Some Mormons like to host other Mormon's Vacation. I do!

*Because we live in the beautiful mountains of Idaho, many people like to travel to our home to visit (Ballou, Walks, Ames, Mitchells, Hopes).

We love it when people visit!

This last week we had the good fortune of having James and Kelly Walk and their beautiful children stay with us. James and Kelly are our good friends from Graham Washington. We used to be in the Lincoln Ward together (in Tacoma). The Walks have 5 beautiful children all 8 years old and under.

They are:

Haily

Sullivan

Avery

Taylor

and Eden

The Walks stayed with us from Sunday to Sunday. Our children played with their children and together we all played games and listened to beautiful music played by my daughters: Jessica, Sarah and Penny. We also listened to Kelly play and sing at the piano.

James and I had terrific battles on the xbox.

Entertainment was totally centered around the home and the participants thereof.

Sarah french braiding Kelly's hair.

Taylor with Jake and James relaxing a bit.

Caught on video is Kelly singing and playing the piano with Penny, Haily, Eden and Taylor singing along. This video was taken without Kelly or the girls knowing it and it captures what really goes on in Mormon households and why we love it so. Ruth and I sat on the fireplace and enjoyed.

Some Mormons like it when friends and family come to visit. We do!

Bigger Fish in Idaho

Holy Omega 3! I burned a few calories hauling this big fatty into shore.

"Hope. Brent Hope." "da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da..."

It was tough getting to the gym today. In fact I was late by 15 minutes having been overcome by an MSG-Coma induced by the local Chinese food restaurant. With 45 minutes to spare in my lunch break I dashed to the local YMCA and traded in my membership card for a towel and key.

Observing the key ring I noticed that I had been given number 007.

The deliberate guitar-lick from all the James Bond movies entered my head as I looked at the key ring.

"Hope. Brent Hope," I thought.

"Da-da, da-da, da-da-da" I heard in my head.

That's all the motivation I needed.

Random Madness: Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey #1

To me, it's always a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?," you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks."

If you go flying back through time, and you see somebody else flying forward into the future, it's probably best to avoid eye contact.

I remember how my Great Uncle Jerry would sit on the porch and whittle all day long. Once he whittled me a toy boat out of a larger toy boat I had. It was almost as good as the first one, except now it had bumpy whittle marks all over it. And no paint, because he had whittled off the paint.

You know something that would really make me applaud? A guy gets stuck in quicksand, then sinks, then suddenly comes shooting out, riding on water skis! How do they do that?!

Instead of a trap door, what about a trap window? The guy looks out it, and if he leans too far, he falls out. Wait. I guess that's like a regular window.

One day one of my little nephews came up to me and asked me if the equator was a real line that went around the Earth, or just an imaginary one. I had to laugh. Laugh and laugh. Because I didn't know, and I thought that maybe by laughing he would forget what he asked me.

If you're a cowboy, and you're dragging a guy behind your horse, I bet it would really make you mad if you looked back and the guy was reading a magazine.

To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kinda scary. I've wondered where this started, and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus and a clown killed my dad.

Whenever someone asks me to define love, I usually think for a minute, then I spin around and pin the guy's arm behind his back. NOW who's asking the questions?

Most of the time it was probably real bad being stuck down in a dungeon. But some days, when there was a bad storm outside, you'd look out your little window and think, ``Boy, I'm glad I'm not out in THAT.''

I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.

I think a good gift for the president would be a chocolate revolver. And since he's so busy, you'd probably have to run up to him and hand it to him.

If you're a boxing referee, it's probably illegal to wear a bow tie that spins or changes colors.

I guess I kinda lost control, because in the middle of the play I ran up and lit the evil puppet villain on fire. No, I didn't. Just kidding. I just said that to illustrate one of the human emotions, which is freaking out. Another emotion is greed, as when someone kills someone for money, or something like that. Another emotion is generosity, as when you pay someone double what he paid for his stupid puppet.

There are many stages to a man's life. In the first stage, he is young and eager, like a beaver. In the second stage, he wants to build things, like dams, and maybe chew down some trees. In the third stage, he feels trapped, and then ``skinned.'' I'm not sure what the fourth stage is.

Ambition is like a frog sitting on a Venus's-flytrap. The flytrap can bite and bite, but it won't bother the frog because it only has little tiny plant teeth. But some other stuff could happen and it could be like ambition.

When the age of the Vikings came to a close, they must have sensed it. Probably, they gathered together one evening, slapped each other on the back and said, "Hey, good job."

FGM per Reqest

It's Monday and we woke up to 8 inches of snow here in the Wood River Valley.

Yucky!!

It's been messy and nasty as part of the valley has no power and it's all hustle and bustle. We are going crazy here at the telecommunications company which is Cox. And while there are many things I could post that would better represent the moment for us here in the Valley, I have decided to mix it up a bit and post something different.

Soooooo, in respecting a request from a dear Daily Item reader (Wendy Lou) to post a "Feel Good Monday" picture (a continuation of last Friday) I have decided to thwart my idea of posting something heinous and do just as requested.

Happy stinking Monday.

enjoy!

Feel Good Friday

It's feel good Friday and nothing makes you feel more warm and fuzzy that a duckling and a baby owl snuggling.

Everybody: "Ahhhhhhhhh!" sigh.